TOKYO—Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda expects inflation to accelerate to around 1 percent in the first half of next year as the economy recovers to pre-coronavirus levels, pledging to maintain ultra-easy policy in hopes of a consumption-driven recovery. With inflation still short of its 2 percent target, the BOJ will maintain its “powerful” monetary easing and stand ready to ramp up stimulus, even as other central banks head for an exit from crisis-mode policies, Kuroda said on Monday. “We expect consumer inflation to gradually accelerate to around 1 percent at about the middle of next year as the output gap turns positive,” he said in a speech to business leaders in Nagoya, central Japan. “Even if inflation does hit 1 percent, it’s still quite distant from our 2 percent target. As such, we will absolutely not consider dialing back or abandoning ultra-loose policy,” Kuroda told a news conference after …