Japan’s Katayama says no change in stance that BoJ decides specific monetary policy
Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday that there’s no change to the government's stance that specific monetary policy means it's up to the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to decide.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated that the government aims for a stable drop in the debt-to-GDP ratio, adding that the council will discuss the food tax before a decision in early August.
Key quotes from Katayama
No change to the government's stance that specific monetary policy means it's up to the BoJ to decide.
Won't comment on specific language around the upcoming economic blueprint, which is still being finalised with the ruling coalition.
The government is keeping a close eye on daily market moves and economic data, and will strive to stably lower Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio.
The government will work to avoid causing any misunderstanding in markets over its fiscal and monetary policy stance.
Market reaction
At the time of writing, USD/JPY is down 0.02% on the day at 162.35.
Japanese Yen FAQs
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the world’s most traded currencies. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the differential between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.
One of the Bank of Japan’s mandates is currency control, so its moves are key for the Yen. The BoJ has directly intervened in currency markets sometimes, generally to lower the value of the Yen, although it refrains from doing it often due to political concerns of its main trading partners. The BoJ ultra-loose monetary policy between 2013 and 2024 caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks. More recently, the gradually unwinding of this ultra-loose policy has given some support to the Yen.
Over the last decade, the BoJ’s stance of sticking to ultra-loose monetary policy has led to a widening policy divergence with other central banks, particularly with the US Federal Reserve. This supported a widening of the differential between the 10-year US and Japanese bonds, which favored the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen. The BoJ decision in 2024 to gradually abandon the ultra-loose policy, coupled with interest-rate cuts in other major central banks, is narrowing this differential.
The Japanese Yen is often seen as a safe-haven investment. This means that in times of market stress, investors are more likely to put their money in the Japanese currency due to its supposed reliability and stability. Turbulent times are likely to strengthen the Yen’s value against other currencies seen as more risky to invest in.
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