Call on BoJ to shift focus to zero rates

KOBE: Bank of Japan board member Takahide Kiuchi said the central bank should consider shifting the focus of monetary policy to zero interest rates from asset purchases when moving to end its ultra-loose stance.

Kiuchi said while the BoJ’s quantitative and qualitative easing (QQE) programme had been effective in boosting the economy, keeping it in place for too long entailed big potential risks, such as creating financial imbalances and making an exit from the stimulus scheme difficult.