Exiting BOJ chief defends monetary easing as Japan out of deflation

Apr 08 (Japan Today) - The Bank of Japan's monetary easing was "appropriate" and effective in jolting Japan out of deflation, and its retention under new leadership is of utmost importance as inflation expectations are heightening, outgoing Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Friday.

In his last press conference as governor, Kuroda again expressed his regret over the BOJ's failure to attain its 2 percent inflation target stably before his term ends on Saturday. But he added that goal is still nearer than when he took office in 2013.

Kuroda will hand the reins to academic Kazuo Ueda, a monetary policy expert who has taken the stance that monetary easing should be in place. The outgoing governor acknowledged that the past decade of unprecedented monetary easing has had side effects but denied that the policy tool had reached its limits.

"What is critically important is to promote economic growth and sustain wage growth through monetary easing," Kuroda, 78, said at the press conference.

"Large-scale monetary easing has shown its effects, and our guiding of policy has been appropriate," he added.

Kuroda's whirlwind tenure was devoted to beating deflation and meeting what he has described as a "global standard" of 2 percent inflation. ...continue reading

Source: ANNnewsCH

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