Bank of Japan
November 16, 2011
The Bank of Japan issued a more somber economic assessment, flagging near-term depressants due to slower global growth, the yen’s appreciation, and the flooding in Thailand. However, today’s statement, issued after the Policy Board had met over two days for a total of five hours and 50 minutes, left the policy settings as they’ve been.
- The overnight money rate target remains a range of zero to 0.1%. Such was cut on October 5, 2010 from a previous point estimate of 0.1%.
- The Asset Purchase Plan (APP) retains a size of JPY 55 trillion (about $715 billion). Such was set at JPY 35 trillion in October 2010, railed to JPY 40 trillion in March 2011 right after the Sendai earthquake, then hiked by a further JPY 5 trillion on April 28, again by another JPY 5 trillion on August 4 and, most recently, by yet another JPY 5 trillion to JPY 55 trillion on October 27.
Today’s statement statement speaks of increasing business spending, firm personal consumption but more moderate growth in exports and industrial production because of the aforementioned drags. Core inflation is expected to continue hovering around zero versus a preferred level of 1%.
Copyright 2011, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Bank of Japan
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