Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said that he intends to scrap the central bank’s yield curve control program once sustainable inflation target comes into sight.
“We would like to end yield curve control and then proceed to shrinking a balance sheet once we have an inflation outlook indicating that sustainable and stable 2% inflation will be achieved,” Ueda said Tuesday in response to questions in parliament.
The yen gained slightly immediately after the comments before paring the gains. It was trading around 135.09 per dollar in the morning in Tokyo.
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The initial reaction to Ueda’s comment points to lingering speculation among market players that the BOJ will abandon its control of yields under Ueda.
Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are among those expecting adjustments to YCC in July.
Following his first policy meeting as a governor on April 28, Ueda said that underlying inflation is improving but the bank isn’t at a stage where it can say with certainty that the price goal will be met.
Ueda reiterated his view that Japan’s inflation is currently led by cost-push factors and is likely to slow toward autumn of this year.
--With assistance from Lily Nonomiya.
