BOJ’s Ishida: Shouldn’t Ease Just to Meet Inflation Target

Bank of Japan board member Koji Ishida said on Thursday the central bank should not ease monetary policy further just to hit its 2 percent inflation target at a set timing.

Rather, the BOJ ought to adjust monetary policy only if, from a long-term perspective, there is a big risk that Japan’s economy will fail to achieve stable price growth based on sustained economic expansion, he said.  Ishida was speaking to business leaders in Yokohama, south of Tokyo.

The BOJ has kept monetary policy steady after expanding stimulus in October last year to prevent slumping oil prices, and a subsequent slowdown in inflation, from delaying a sustained end to 15 years of deflation.

Reuters