In his last policy session, Kuroda supports the Bank of Japan's ultra-dovish view

March 13, 2023: On Friday, Japan’s outgoing central governor Haruhiko Kuroda, is defending the Bank of Japan’s ultra-dovish economic policy stance at his final meeting.

The Bank of Japan is leaving its hostile goods prices unchanged at -0.1%, widely in line with anticipations. It reiterated ­the central bank’s target to keep the 10-year Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yield around 0%.

The central bank has been keeping its benchmark interest rate unchanged since 2016. It executed its yield curve control (YCC) policy, which wants to defend its target on JGBs by purchasing unlimited government bonds.

Kuroda was first appointed in March 2013. His five-year term will end on April 8, and he is set to be replaced by incoming BOJ chief Kazuo Ueda.

Kuroda led the central bank’s ultra-dovish monetary policy for the past decade, even as the global major recently raised interest rates to tame inflation.

In December, the BOJ shocked global markets when it widened its tolerance range to 50 basis points above and below its 0% target, up from 25 basis points.

On Friday, the yield on 10-year Japanese administration bonds decreases to 0.441%, less than the upper ceiling of the central bank’s tolerance from 50 basis points above and below 0%. After the announcement, the Japanese yen weakened roughly 0.3% and traded at 136.6 against the U.S. dollar.

“Japan’s economy, even after being affected by factors like high item prices, is picking up as the fall of economic activity has progressed,” the Bank of Japan stated in its policy statement on Friday, concluding the two-day meeting.

“Financial conditions have been accommodative on the whole. Hence weakness in companies’ financial positions has remained in some segments,” the central bank stated.