The Bank of Japan aims to “steadily promote” monetary easing, as the central bank is only halfway to overcoming deflation and achieving its 2 percent inflation target, a BOJ policymaker said Wednesday.
The BOJ intends to “steadily promote monetary policy by mobilizing all three dimensions of easing steps — quantity, quality and interest rates,” Policy Board member Yukitoshi Funo said in a speech in Niigata Prefecture.
“As for the future of the Japanese economy, we need to turn around the long-entrenched deflationary mindset as deflation has persisted for a long period of time, and we are still halfway along the path to realizing the price stability target,” he said.
His remarks came amid speculation among market participants that the number of policy tools available to the BOJ is dwindling and the bank may start tapering its massive asset purchases.
BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has instructed his staff to conduct a comprehensive assessment on its large-scale monetary easing policy by its next policy review on Sept. 20-21.
