Japan’s Katayama says BoJ's latest rate hike was done to achieve inflation target
Japanese Finance Minister (FM) Satsuki Katayama said on Friday that the latest rate hike from the Bank of Japan (BoJ) was done to achieve the inflation target. Katayama added that she expects the central bank to conduct appropriate monetary policy while coordinating with the government.
Key quotes
Specific monetary policy tools are up to BoJ to decide.
BoJ's latest rate hike was done to achieve inflation target.
Expect BOJ to conduct appropriate monetary policy while coordinating with the government.
Won't comment on specific FX levels, rate checks.
Trump expressed concerns about weak yen during summit.
Will closely coordinate with us on forex.
PM Takaichi expressed concern over yen weakness in general.
Market reaction
At the time of writing, the USD/JPY pair is down 0.24% on the day at 158.48.
Bank of Japan FAQs
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is the Japanese central bank, which sets monetary policy in the country. Its mandate is to issue banknotes and carry out currency and monetary control to ensure price stability, which means an inflation target of around 2%.
The Bank of Japan embarked in an ultra-loose monetary policy in 2013 in order to stimulate the economy and fuel inflation amid a low-inflationary environment. The bank’s policy is based on Quantitative and Qualitative Easing (QQE), or printing notes to buy assets such as government or corporate bonds to provide liquidity. In 2016, the bank doubled down on its strategy and further loosened policy by first introducing negative interest rates and then directly controlling the yield of its 10-year government bonds. In March 2024, the BoJ lifted interest rates, effectively retreating from the ultra-loose monetary policy stance.
The Bank’s massive stimulus caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers. This process exacerbated in 2022 and 2023 due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks, which opted to increase interest rates sharply to fight decades-high levels of inflation. The BoJ’s policy led to a widening differential with other currencies, dragging down the value of the Yen. This trend partly reversed in 2024, when the BoJ decided to abandon its ultra-loose policy stance.
A weaker Yen and the spike in global energy prices led to an increase in Japanese inflation, which exceeded the BoJ’s 2% target. The prospect of rising salaries in the country – a key element fuelling inflation – also contributed to the move.
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