TOKYO (Reuters) – Bank of Japan board member Hajime Takata said on Thursday the central bank must consider overhauling its ultra-loose monetary policy, including an exit from negative interest rates and bond yield control.
“It’s necessary to consider taking a nimble and flexible response, including on how to exit, or shift gear from the current extremely accommodative monetary policy,” he said in a speech.
Measures that should be under consideration include an exit from yield curve control (YCC), negative interest rates and a tweak to the BOJ’s commitment to keep expanding its monetary base until inflation stably exceeds 2%, he said.
Under its massive stimulus programme, the BOJ currently guides short-term interest rates at -0.1%, caps the 10-year government bond yield around 0% and continues to buy huge amounts of assets such as government bonds.
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Leika Kihara; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
