Japanese Central Bank Maintains Interest Rates. The Japanese central bank or Bank of Japan (BOJ) maintained its benchmark interest rate and did not provide clear instructions regarding the end of negative interest rates. The yen weakened in response to this decision.
The BOJ kept its short-term interest rate at -0.1% and kept yield curve control parameters intact at the end of the two-day meeting.
The central bank also cut its inflation forecast for the fiscal year from April 2023 to 2.4% from 2.8% in its quarterly outlook report. This means that price increases will exceed the 2% target for some time, as has been the case since April 2022.
This policy decision had previously been unanimously predicted by observers of the Sakura Country’s central bank. A major earthquake over the new year and a funding scandal hit Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government, so now is not the right time for Japan’s first interest rate hike since 2007.
Then, the Yen also weakened against the dollar after the announcement because market players calculated that negative interest rates would last longer. Meanwhile, at 11.20 WIB, the yen reached 148.06 per dollar.
The recent weakening of the yen may also encourage Governor Kazuo Ueda to sound less dovish. The yen hovering around 150 keeps import costs high and adds to inflationary pressures that are pushing up costs, raising the risk of another hit to already weak consumer spending.
Japanese Central Bank Maintains. On the other hand, this decision is unlikely to change the prevailing view among economists that the BOJ will raise interest rates this year.
Economists surveyed see April 2024 as the most appropriate time to end negative interest rates, as it would give the BOJ time to assess the results of annual salary negotiations. Higher wage increases are seen as a key element to secure a positive cycle of price and wage increases that impact economic growth.
