BoJ’s Himino: Will patiently maintain easy policy until sustained achievement of price target is eyed

Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino said on Wednesday, the “BoJ will patiently maintain easy policy until sustained and stable achievement of price target is in sight.”

Additional comments

Japan’s financial system is likely resilient enough to weather stress from transition to higher interest rates.

Must make appropriate decision on exit timing, procedure by scrutinising wage, inflation developments.

If we do not get the timing exit, procedures wrong, the impact of a positive wage-inflation cycle will likely benefit wide range of households, companies.

BoJ must achieve situation where inflation slows ahead, but not too much.

Japan is seeing steadily changes in price, wage behavior.

Solid progress is observed in the transformation of firms’ wage- and price-setting behavior.

Price rises beginning to affect wages.

Pass-through from wages to inflation is also returning somewhat.

Without virtuous cycle between wages and prices, Japan will most likely revert to the deflationary state in the past.

When Japan returns to an economy with positive interest rate, that could improve households’ balance as a whole.