- Bank of Japan
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank stood ready to expand monetary stimulus again if recent weaknesses in inflation expectations persist, stressing that there are "many ways" to do so to reach the price target. Kuroda also dismissed the view the BoJ's decision in January to introduce negative interest rates was directly aimed at weakening the Japanese Yen to give Japan's exports a competitive advantage. While maintaining his optimistic view of Japan's economic outlook, Kuroda admitted that inflation expectations have been weakening in recent months. The BoJ may reconsider its current projection that inflation will hit 2% around the first half of fiscal 2017 if assumptions it was based on, such as oil price moves, change.
In the meantime, the top executive of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest bank, brutally criticised the central bank, saying its negative interest-rate policy has resulted in anxiety among households and companies and prolonging it may weaken financial institutions. President Nobuyuki Hirano said there is "no guarantee" that negative rates will spur companies to increase capital spending as low borrowing costs and deflation have been "business as usual for over a decade." Lenders will not be able to pass on negative rates to individual and corporate depositors.
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