Central bank expected to maintain monetary policy

Still cautious: Ueda speaks at a news conference at the central bank’s headquarters in Tokyo. The BoJ governor and other officials still see uncertainties over pay trends at the small firms that employ the bulk of Japan’s workers. — Bloomberg

TOKYO: The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is expected to keep its main monetary policy settings steady today, with attention focused on how governor Kazuo Ueda assesses progress made towards achieving the sustainable inflation needed for ending the negative interest rate. All 51 BoJ watchers in a Bloomberg poll expect the bank to keep its short-term policy rate at minus 0.1% and leave the parameters of the yield curve control programme intact at the two-day board meeting.

With growing signs of solid wage growth this year, Ueda’s remarks on the degree of “certainty” of achieving the bank’s price goal will be closely scrutinised at a post-decision press conference.