TOKYO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Three members of the Bank of Japan's policy board expressed doubts the BOJ can meet its inflation target because of a slowdown in underlying inflation and falling oil prices, minutes of the bank's January monetary policy meeting showed.

One of the three members said that even though the yen is weak, annual inflation excluding food and energy is only slightly above zero, according to minutes published on Monday.

Another of the three members said the collapse in oil prices from last year has slowed inflationary momentum.

The BOJ kept monetary policy steady at the January meeting and expanded a programme aimed at encouraging banks to boost lending.

In a quarterly review of its long-term forecasts in January, the BOJ cut its core consumer inflation projection to 1.0 percent from an estimate 1.7 percent issued three months ago, largely due to the global oil price slump.

(Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Eric Meijer)