On the 23rd, the Bank of Japan decided to maintain its monetary easing policy, but Governor Ueda expressed the view that the ``certainty of achieving the 2% price stability target'' is "gradually increasing."
There is a perception in the market that the timing for a policy change is approaching, and the focus will be on what kind of policy decisions the Bank of Japan will make at its next meeting in March and beyond.
On the 23rd, the Bank of Japan decided to maintain the current large-scale monetary easing measures in order to create a virtuous cycle of wages and prices.
At the press conference, Governor Ueda commented on the 2% price stability target, which is a prerequisite for the policy change, and said, ``While there is still a high level of uncertainty about the future, it is likely that the outlook will be realized,'' as there is a positive movement towards wage increases, especially among large companies. "The accuracy continues to increase little by little."
These comments led the market to believe that the time for a change in the Bank of Japan's policy was approaching, and in the foreign exchange market, the yen strengthened against the dollar as people became conscious of the narrowing of the interest rate differential between Japan and the United States.
Regarding the next meeting, in March, Governor Ueda said, ``We will have some economic data and data on prices.As it will last about two months, we will also be able to obtain various hearing-related information.'' .
In March, the results of the wage increases for large companies in the spring labor union were made clear, and Governor Ueda said that wage increases for small and medium-sized enterprises can be inferred to some extent from the results for large companies.
The focus will be on what policy decisions the Bank of Japan will make at its meetings in March and April, taking into account future trends in wages and prices.