NEW YORK—Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Wednesday a Federal Reserve rate rise, whenever it happens, would be a welcome development for the world economy.

If Fed officials raise their short-term interest rate target, "that means that they are confident that the U.S. economic recovery is strong and robust, and that is not only good for the U.S. economy, but also for the world economy, including the Japanese economy," Mr. Kuroda said at an event held by the Japan Society in New York.

"I don't know when" the Fed might act to push its short-term interest rate target off of current near-zero levels, Mr. Kuroda said, but "if they decide to do it, it must be good for the world economy."

Mr. Kuroda, who was broadly optimistic about the state of the Japanese economy and the policies pursued by his bank and the Japanese government, and he signaled it would be steady-as-she-goes for current stimulus efforts.

"If necessary we will certainly make adjustments" to a bond-buying program known as QQE, the official said. But he added "at this stage the underlying trend of economic activity, as well as inflation, is as we intended, so we think that 2% inflation target would be achieved with the current QQE," Mr. Kuroda said.

In his speech, the official said that for his central bank, "it was necessary to dispel the deflationary mindset" that had beset the Japanese economy. Mr. Kuroda said "there have been very encouraging changes" in the nation's thinking regarding price increases since the central bank embarked on QQE.

The official's said expectations of price pressures are rising, and he said Japan's labor market is now very tight, which is boosting wage rise pressures in a way the Bank of Japan would like to see. "It is clear a positive feedback loop between wages and inflation is now in place" that is helping to push price pressures higher, Mr. Kuroda said.

He said the Bank of Japan wants to achieve 2% inflation "at the earliest possible time."

Mr. Kuroda spoke at a time of considerable turbulence in global financial markets and rising concern about the economic outlook's facing the world's biggest nations. Financial markets have been in flux amid mounting signs of economic distress in China. Weakness there has hit global stock markets hard and raised questions about the growth outlooks for nations like Japan and the U.S.

The uncertainty surrounding recent events has cast a shadow over the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting. A once broadly held view the Fed would raise rate then has given way to calls in some quarters for the central bank to hold back. Speaking Wednesday, influential New York Fed President William Dudley said "the decision to begin the normalization process at the September [Federal Open Market Committee] meeting seems less compelling to me than it did several weeks ago. But normalization could become more compelling by the time of the meeting as we get additional information" about the state of the economy.

Uncertainty over the Fed's willingness to raise the cost of borrowing in the American economy comes as the Bank of Japan continues to press forward with aggressive efforts to boost growth and inflation in that economy. China's troubles have raised questions about Bank of Japan efforts to push up inflation, and Japanese equity prices have been hard hit in a sign of reduced investor confidence central bank efforts will work.

Mr. Kuroda played down the effect of China's slowdown. "In the long run, even the Chinese economy is likely to further slow down," he said. But, "I'm reasonably sure this year, next year, the Chinese economy is likely to achieve 6% to 7% growth," Mr. Kuroda said.

"Despite some decline of stock prices in Shanghai or a correction of a rapid rise in stock prices, I'm reasonably sure" China will continue to grow, he said, and leave Japan's recovery on track.

Mr. Kuroda also played down any idea that national central banks were deliberately trying to weaken their currencies in a bid to gain a leg up on their international competitors. "I'm not concerned about currency war. There has been no currency war," he said.

Mr. Kuroda said Chinese central bank rate cuts aren't a problem from his point of view. "We will welcome" that nation's lowering of interest rates, he said.

Write to Michael S. Derby at michael.derby@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 26, 2015 21:25 ET (01:25 GMT)