BoJ's Asada says must be mindful of expected effect of past rate increases on economy
Bank of Japan (BoJ) board member Toichiro Asada said on Thursday that the central bank must be mindful of expected effect of past rate increases on economy. Asada added that underlying inflation fluctuates around levels consistent with BoJ's price target.
Key quotes
Must be mindful of expected effect of past rate increases on economy.
Financial conditions stay accommodative.
Underlying inflation fluctuates around levels consistent with central bank's price target.
With policy rate in neutral range, further hike could have greater effect on economy.
Must be cautious of risk as rate hikes may harm economy, reduce core inflation.
Mindful of risk overshoot in underlying inflation above target could hurt economy.
Risk remains from past hikes, future increases could curb inflation if they slow growth.
Central bank can use actual consumer inflation data to gauge risk of inflation exceeding 2%.
Current price increases aren’t necessarily fueled by demand given weak growth, consumption.
Even if Bank of Japan raises rates in future, must be cautious about pace of increases.
Personally thinks recent consumption data aren't necessarily robust.
Japan's economic growth poised to pick up moderately.
Because monetary policy impact shows after at least a year, must closely monitor cumulative effect of BoJ’s rate hikes on corporate funding, household borrowing.
BoJ’s Asada flags neutral rates but warns against aggressive tightening for the Yen
BoJ’s Asada speech scores 3.2/10 on FXS Speechtracker, exactly in line with the speaker’s historic average, signaling no clear hawkish shift despite talk of past rate hikes and neutral policy rates. Emphasis on accommodative financial conditions, weak consumption, and the risk that further hikes could harm the economy and reduce core inflation points to a mildly dovish bias for the Yen, even as underlying inflation is described as fluctuating around the price target.
Asada highlights that current price increases are not clearly demand-driven and stresses that future rate increases must be cautious and gradual, reinforcing the message that aggressive tightening is unlikely. The focus on using actual consumer inflation data to gauge overshoot risks, alongside warnings that past and future hikes could curb inflation by slowing growth, supports a stance of careful, data-dependent policy that tempers expectations for rapid Yen-supportive rate hikes.
Market reaction
No major reaction is seen in the Japanese Yen (JPY) following remarks from BoJ’s Asada. At press time, the USD/JPY pair trades 0.12% lower at around 159.65.
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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