- Data shows Japan is steadily moving towards achieving 2% inflation target
- That means need for policy adjustment is heightening more than ever
- Economy, prices still face downside risks but upside risks have become more important
- Current high inflation is probably due to a major shift in firms’ price and wage-setting behaviour
- Rigidity of services prices is gradually weakening, likely to continue
- The key would be whether this trend would expand to smaller and medium-sized firms
The comments here are slightly hawkish at the balance especially considering that Noguchi is typically one of the more dovish members. Is there a change afoot at the BOJ after the latest dissents by Takata and Tamura? It will be interesting to keep monitoring these remarks in the next few weeks.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.
