Ex-BoJ’s Kameda: Japanese central bank may hold off YCC tweak in July

Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) former top economist, Seisaku Kameda, said in a Reuters interview on Friday, the Japanese central bank will likely refrain from making any adjustments to its yield curve control (YCC) policy when it meets to decide on the policy later this month.

Key quotes

“The bank will likely keep its forecasts for 2024 and 2025 roughly unchanged in a sign it is not yet convinced that the 2% target for inflation will be achieved on a sustainable basis.”

"We're seeing positive signs in inflation and wages.”

"But I'm not sure whether they are enough to make the BoJ suddenly turn hawkish on policy."

"Sustainably achieving 2% inflation in Japan is tough, so it's natural for the BoJ to be frank about the uncertainty of success. But it means its policy signals could be quite ambigious."

Market reaction

USD/JPY is holding lower ground near 143.70 despite the dovish comments from the former BoJ policymaker. The pair is down 0.24% on the day, at the time of writing.