BoJ still thinks Japan is on the path to 2% CPI - Rabobank

Michael Every, Head of FMR at Rabobank, notes that the BOJ minutes today showed that board members felt the Bank “should once again make clear to the markets that daily conduct of market operations had no implications for the monetary policy stance going forward” – though it then subsequently decided to make the dates of those operations publicly transparent, which argues the opposite!

Key Quotes

“Then again, the BOJ, as ever, still think Japan is on the path to 2% CPI, just not in their projected period - and if you believe that, you’ll believe anything: doubly so given Finance Minister Taro Aso has just pledged to keep moving Japan towards a primary budget balance by 2020, and raise the sales tax in 2019, which means fiscal policy is going to get tighter, not looser. Indeed, the BOJ’s Funo also spoke today and added that it is “vital for the BOJ to continue powerful easing.”