BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated that the new forward guidance indicated “downward bias on policy rates”. However, it “does not limit additional monetary easing measures to rate cuts”. He added that “there is no change to our understanding that, besides lowering policy rates, there are various possible measures for additional easing.”
Nevertheless, Kuroda maintained his optimism regarding Japan’s economy, and expected the moderate expansion to continue on robust capital expenditure and a tight job market. He said, “although the timing of a pick-up in overseas economies has been delayed, our view is that Japan’s economy will not decelerate substantially.”
