BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda defended this week decision to maintain by the -0.1% interest rate and the 0.5% 10-year JGB yield cap.
“We expect, probably from February this year, inflation rates start to decline and fiscal year 2023 as a whole, inflation rate will be less than 2%. So, we decided to maintain the current extremely accommodative monetary policy for the time being,” he said.
“Our hope is that wages start to rise and that could make 2% inflation target to be met in a stable and sustainable manner, but we have to wait for some time,” he added.
Asked whether he had any regrets during reign, he said, “All in all, the government’s policy, coupled with the BoJ’s extremely accommodative policy, have been successful in changing Japan’s economic structure and growth prospects”.
“But our 2% inflation target has not been achieved in a sustainable, stable manner,” he said. “That is the only regret I have”.
