Today, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) voted unanimously (9-0) to maintain its policy rate at -0.1% and keep its 10-year JGB yield target at about 0%. The BOJ offered no guidance on whether it might scrap negative rates next year, which knocked the yen (^USDJPY) down more than -1%. In addition, post-meeting comments today from BOJ Governor Ueda offered no clear timeline for when the BOJ will normalize its monetary policy.
BOJ Governor Ueda is keeping the markets guessing as to when the BOJ may begin policy normalization. At today’s press conference, Ueda didn’t rule out policy normalization at any of the upcoming BOJ meetings while insisting he first needs to see more evidence that the BOJ will achieve its price stability target. Ueda didn’t clearly rule out any action at next month’s BOJ meeting but said, “There isn’t much likelihood of us suddenly announcing that we’ll raise rates a month in advance.”
