Pedestrians cross a street at night in Tokyo’s Shinjuku area on April 2, 2021.
Charly Triballeau | Afp | Getty Images
Japan’s central bank on Friday pledged greater flexibility in its target range for 10-year Japanese government bond yields, while keeping its ultra loose interest rate intact and revising core consumer inflation forecast upward for the current fiscal year.
In a policy statement, the Bank of Japan said it will retain the 50 basis point limit on 10-year Japanese government bond yields either side of its 0% target.
It will also offer to purchase 10-year JGBs at 1% every business day through fixed-rate operations, unless no bids are submitted.
But the BOJ held its short-term interest rate target at -0.1% after a two-day meeting.
BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has been under pressure to tighten its monetary policy, with inflation consistently exceeding its 2% target for 15 straight months, while wages are finally starting to increase after years of stagnation.
However, the central bank has said inflation will slow toward the end of this year — a view that’s shared by the Japanese government.
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