Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda is giving a press conference in Tokyo now, to explain today’s decision to hike interest rates.
Reuters has helpfully collated some of the important quotes
“That depends on how price conditions develop. There could be various possibilities. We shouldn’t rule anything out.“
“We’re at a phase where we need to look at various data carefully. But that doesn’t mean we can move slowly. We will analyse data carefully and take timely action as needed.“
“If the renewed rise in energy costs persists, that could add further pressure to wholesale inflation and then consumer inflation. That’s something we need to look out for.“
“Financial conditions are becoming less accommodative as we raise rates ... It’s important to avoid financial conditions from tightening too much, or to cause a big adjustment in asset prices, by raising rates too sharply.“
“It is hard to pinpoint where the neutral rate is, and therefore the terminal rate. It might be the case that as we adjust policy as appropriate, we will know where those rates sit ex-ante.“
“Up till now, our short-term policy focus was to push up underlying inflation from levels below 2%. Now, underlying inflation is approaching 2%. If risks of underlying inflation overshooting 2% materialise, that could have a negative impact on Japan’s economy. It’s important to stabilise underlying inflation at 2%. Our policy phase has changed.“
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