Comments via analysts at Julius Baer:

  • The end of the negative interest rate policy, together with the end of the yield curve control policy and the end of exchange-traded fund purchases, looks like hawkish monetary policy action.
  • At the same time, the outlook for monetary policy in Japan remains dovish as the Bank of Japan still targets accommodative monetary conditions. Japanese government bond purchases are still possible, and inflation is expected to move below 2 per cent again in the coming months.
  • We expect no more policy tightening in the next few months. We expect few rate actions from here as inflation is expected to move again below 2 per cent in the coming months and uncertainty remains as to whether the solid wage demand is sufficient to kick-start sluggish private consumption in Japan.

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All sounds good to me. The only thing I'd add is I don't expect more policy tightening from the BoJ for many, many, many months ahead. Inflation will fall. Wage growth is nowhere near enough to fuel it. All IMO of course.

Bank of Japan Governor Ueda 19 December 2023

Bank of Japan Governor Ueda