BOJ to keep policy steady, signal more rate hikes to come
BOJ concludes 2-day meeting, decision expected 0300-0430 GMT
Board widely expected to keep short-term rate steady at 0.25%
Focus on any hints from Ueda on next rate hike timing
Governor Ueda likely to brief media 0630 GMT
Adds graphic link
By Leika Kihara
TOKYO, Sept 20 (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan is set to keep monetary policy steady on Friday, but signal its confidence that solid wage growth and consumption will allow the central bank to raise interest rates again in coming months.
Such hawkish communication would contrast with many other central banks that are now shifting to a rate-cut cycle, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, which delivered an oversized reduction in borrowing costs on Wednesday.
The divergence may cause more turbulence in markets with expectations of narrowing U.S.-Japan interest rate differentials already helping the yen rebound to around 143 versus the dollar, off the nearly three-decade low of 161.99 hit in early July.
Markets are focusing on any hints from Governor Kazuo Ueda on the timing and pace of future rate hikes at his post-meeting news conference.
"Having just raised rates in July, the BOJ will likely prefer to scrutinise market developments for the time being," said former BOJ official Nobuyasu Atago.
"It's natural to think the next rate hike will come in December" so the BOJ can gauge the impact of the Fed's rate cut as well as political events such as Japan's ruling party leadership race and the U.S. presidential election, he said.
At a two-day policy meeting concluding on Friday, the BOJ is widely expected to keep short-term interest rates steady at 0.25%, and maintain its view the economy will continue to recover moderately as rising wages underpin consumption.
A majority of economists polled by Reuters expect the BOJ to raise rates again this year with most betting on a December hike. None in the poll projected a rate increase this month.
The BOJ ended negative interest rates in March and hiked short-term rates to 0.25% in July, in a landmark shift away from a decade-long stimulus programme aimed at firing up inflation.
Governor Ueda has stressed the BOJ's readiness to raise rates further if inflation remains on track to durably hit its 2% target, as the board currently projects.
Core consumer inflation hit 2.8% in August to accelerate for the fourth straight month, data showed on Friday, keeping alive expectations for further interest rate hikes.
The chance to check data against its projections more carefully would come at the BOJ's Oct. 30-31 meeting, when the board will conduct a quarterly review of its forecasts.
Japan's economy expanded an annualised 2.9% in April-June and real wages rose for two straight months in July, easing fears that rising living costs will dent consumption.
But soft demand in China, slowing U.S. growth and the yen's recent rebound cloud the outlook for the export-reliant country.
Market volatility remains a key concern for BOJ policymakers after the July rate hike and hawkish remarks from Ueda triggered a yen spike and sharp falls in equity prices.
Several BOJ policymakers have called for scrutinising market moves in setting policy. But they also reiterated the bank's readiness to keep raising rates, with one hawkish board member saying short-term rates must eventually go up to around 1%.
Japan's core inflation accelerates for 4th month https://reut.rs/3XR41v1
Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Sam Holmes
Aset Berkaitan
Berita Terkini
Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
