BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated in an interview with the Japan Daily, the central bank had “absolutely no play” to stop ETF purchases, or unload its holdings. “We will continue to buy ETFs flexibly and in a nimble fashion, so it’s absolutely not the case that we are exiting ultra-loose monetary policy”, he added.

Separately from Japan, retail sales dropped -1.6% yoy in February, better than expectation of -2.8% yoy. That’s still the third straight month of annual decline. Unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.9%, better than expectation of a rise to 3.0%.

In the Summary of Opinions of BoJ’s March 18-19 meeting, it’s said, “for the time being, it is important for the Bank to firmly continue with policy responses to the impact of COVID-19. The Bank should continue to provide support for financing, mainly of firms, and ensure stability in financial markets.”

BoJ’s policy actions decided at the meeting “have ensured the sustainability and nimbleness of policy measures that are necessary to achieve the price stability target”. And, it’s “desirable” for the framework to continue to be the basic guideline for “a few years to come”.

Long-term interest rates were allowed to move in a wider range of plus and minus 0.25%. “This flexibility is desirable since it prevents arbitrageurs and speculators who had lost their profit opportunities from exiting the bond market and helps maintain the price stabilization function in the market.”

The revision on ETFS purchases were made “to conduct purchases more effectively”. It’s necessary to “avoid a misunderstanding that the Bank has adopted a less accommodative stance on monetary policy.

The “inflation-overshooting commitment” implies that monetary easing will be continued for a “long period”. As a “deflationary risk” is a “matter of concern at present”, the commitment shows BoJ’s “strong stance that it will not head toward an exit easily.”

Full summary of opinions here.