BoJ shows how action matters more than signs

Price pressures: The BoJ headquarters is seen in Tokyo. Japanese inflation in July was 2.7% and has held above the central bank’s 2% target for more than two years, with broadening wage hikes starting to push up services prices. — AFP

FOR academics and policymakers gathered at the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) annual Jackson Hole economic conference to debate how central banks can affect market perceptions on the course of monetary policy, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) might appear to have gotten it right in July when it raised rates for a second time.

In March, the BoJ managed at last to end eight years of negative interest rates.