Based on current economic, price outlook, BOJ likely to maintain accomodative monetary conditions for time being. • Will guide monetary policy appropriately in accordance with economic, price, financial developments. • Not there yet to allow market forces to fully drive long-term interest rate moves. • Despite our tweak to monetary policy framework, there are side-effects remaining. • Our monetary easing had some effect in underpinning economic growth. • Japan's economy is showing some signs of weakness but is recovering moderately. • Rises in services prices pushing up overall inflation. • Positive wage-inflation ... (full story)

Yen is dropping. 152.00 is a big round number and a level of importance in many minds. Yen is dropping. Earlier we had a Bank of Japan policy Board member telling us what we all know, that policy is going to remain loose for some time: (full story)

Bank of Japan (BOJ) board member Naoki Tamura said on Wednesday the central bank must proceed slowly but steadily toward normalising its ultra-loose monetary policy. "In my view, the central bank's ultimate goal is to bring interest rates back to levels where they can be pushed up or down to adjust demand, and influence price moves," Tamura said in a speech. The BOJ ended eight years of negative interest rates and other remnants of its unorthodox policy last week, making a historic shift away from its focus on reflating growth with decades of massive monetary stimulus. While the BOJ overhauled its monetary policy ... (full story)