- Japan’s economy is showing moderate recovery, though weakness persists
- Loose monetary policy to sustain economic recovery
- Japan’s real interest rates are likely to remain very low
- Uncertainties in US economy and trade policies have decreased
- Wage increases likely will match that of the previous year
- Future monetary moves will reflect economy, inflation, and financial trends
- Recent yen decline may affect prices, needs close attention
- Several policymakers feel weak yen possibly influencing underlying inflation
- No major tightening observed from previous rate hikes
- Neutral rate plays a vital role in guiding monetary policy
There’s nothing here that he hasn’t already said before for the most part. However, I guess the fact that he is continuing to talk about keeping the door open for another rate hike is something. But again, the threshold to trigger that will be much higher than it would be for the one today, even if he wouldn’t say so.
USD/JPY is trading a little higher on his remarks, holding around 156.04 currently with the high earlier touching 156.43. The early December highs just below 157.00 will be the key resistance point to watch out for amid a double-bottom bounce just below 155.00 this month.
