TOKYO (AFP) – The Bank of Japan (BoJ) stuck to its ultra-loose monetary policy yesterday, though officials face increasing pressure to turn more hawkish as the yen weakens and after fresh data showed inflation remains stubbornly high.
While most other major central banks have pressed ahead with a campaign of interest rate hikes in a bid to tame prices, the BoJ has refused to shift from its long-term programme of sub-zero borrowing costs in order to kickstart the world’s number three economy.
Policymakers have for several months hinted that they are willing to adopt a more normalised policy, such as minor tweaks to its yield curve control scheme, which sees the bank control the band within which government bonds are allowed to move.
But there are growing calls for it to move quicker, and they will not have been tempered by data Friday showing the consumer prices – excluding food and energy – jumped 4.3 per cent in August, a three-decade high.
In a post-meeting statement, the BoJ stuck to its guns, as expected, but said it “will not hesitate to take additional easing measures if necessary”.
“With extremely high uncertainties surrounding economies and financial markets at home and abroad, the Bank will patiently continue with monetary easing while nimbly responding to development in economic activity and prices as well as financial conditions,” it said.
Analysts have said the BoJ’s outlier policy is harming the economy by skewing the bond market and exacerbating the yen’s weakness, in turn making imports more expensive.
On Thursday, the Japanese currency hit a 10-month low against the dollar of 148.46, before recovering slightly on Friday to 148.11.
The yen has tumbled 11 per cent this year, making it the worst-performing Group-of-10 currency, according to Bloomberg News. This has prompted speculation that Japan may intervene in the forex market to provide support to the currency, having done so in November for the first time since 1998.
BoJ governor Kazuo Ueda said in a recent interview that the central bank may have enough data by the year’s end to decide whether to stop the ultra-loose programme.
Following the comments, BoJ watchers moved up their rate forecasts, with half now predicting a hike in the first half of 2024, Bloomberg News reported.
Yesterday, he sought to play down the comments, saying that the bank was “not in a situation that we can foresee a sustainable and stable realisation” of its two-per cent inflation target.
“Uncertainties are extremely high” over risk factors including the global economy and commodity prices, and “it is necessary to closely watch the trend of financial and foreign exchange markets and their impact on the Japanese economy and prices”, he told reporters.
