TOKYO The Bank of Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy, which was aimed at "buying time" to push through structural reforms, will eventually end as inflation accelerates, Japanese industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Tuesday.

"The BOJ is sustaining monetary easing since various events (affecting the economy) occurred such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine," Nishimura told a regular post-cabinet news conference.

"But inflation is now accelerating. Given what's happening across the globe, (the BOJ's) policy aimed at buying time will eventually end and normalise," he said.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama, Writing by Leika Kihara; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)