By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -Bank of Japan board members turned overwhelmingly hawkish at their April policy meeting with many calling for steady interest rates hikes to forestall risks of an inflation overshoot, a summary of opinions at the meeting showed on Thursday. Some members saw the chance rates could rise faster than currently anticipated
Business * By Leika Kihara
TOKYO (Reuters) -Bank of Japan board members turned overwhelmingly hawkish at their April policy meeting with many calling for steady interest rates hikes to forestall risks of an inflation overshoot, a summary of opinions at the meeting showed on Thursday.
Some members saw the chance rates could rise faster than currently anticipated due to heightening prospects of inflation durably staying, or even exceeding, the BOJ’s 2% target, the summary showed.
“If underlying inflation continues to deviate upward from the baseline scenario against the backdrop of a weaker yen, it is quite possible that the pace of monetary policy normalisation will accelerate,” one member was quoted as saying.
The debate underscores BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda’s recent remarks signalling the chance of multiple rate hikes ahead, and heightens the possibility of an increase in short-term borrowing costs in coming months.
The BOJ’s hawkish signals, however, have failed to prop up the yen as markets continued to focus on receding prospects of near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts that will keep the U.S.-Japan interest rate gap
See original post – Read More
