BoJ chief vows ‘bold’ monetary easing act

TOKYO - Agence France-Presse

The Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is seen in this file photo. REUTERDS Photo

The Bank of Japan’s new chief said yesteraday policymakers would live up to market expectations for “bold” monetary easing, ahead of his first policy meeting since taking up the post last month.

The two-day meeting, which starts today, comes as BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has repeatedly talked up his plans to stoke the economy and reverse years of deflation that has crimped private spending and corporate investment. “It is not easy to break out of 15 years of deflation,” he told a parliamentary committee yesterday.

But “it is important that we show a strong commitment to mobilising all the policy measures that the Bank of Japan has and doing everything possible, and that we explain this to markets appropriately” to stoke growth.

“I will adopt bold monetary easing policies that would meet (market) expectations,” he added. Kuroda’s pledges to beat Japan’s long-running deflation has stoked speculation that the BoJ will launch a new wave of aggressive policy measures that tend to weaken the yen, helping the country’s exporters. Japan “must achieve,” the target “as soon as possible”, Kuroda said.