Here\’s Reuters: Some Bank of Japan board members have called for a debate about raising interest rates or lowering purchases of exchange-traded funds in response to the improving outlook, a summary of opinions expressed at last week\’s policy meeting showed….
Here’s Reuters: Some Bank of Japan board members have called for a debate about raising interest rates or lowering purchases of exchange-traded funds in response to the improving outlook, a summary of opinions expressed at last week’s policy meeting showed. . . .
Japan’s growth this year has exceeded some economists‘ expectations, and its stock markets have rallied due to rising corporate earnings, causing some traders to question whether the BOJ should rein in its aggressive monetary easing.
„Consumer spending is doing well, supported by rising stock markets. The BOJ’s policy focus is on interest rates, so it is only natural to question its purchases of risk assets,“ said Hiroshi Miyazaki, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
This is the first time that I’ve seen a situation where an economy did not need easier money, but a central bank did. Japan had several decades of deflation. Even though the rate of inflation since 2012 has been quite low (about 1%/year), after a period of deflation this represents an expansionary shock, as it’s more inflation than people expected.
