BOJ mulls ending monetary ease

BOJ mulls ending monetary ease

TOKYO: The Bank of Japan's policy board discussed setting specific conditions for terminating its quantitative easing measures at its June 25 meeting, according to minutes released on Friday, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports in its Saturday morning edition.

Long-term interest rates had surged above 1.9 percent to hit their highest level in more than three years immediately before the meeting, making it urgent to allay speculation that the BOJ would do away with its quantitative easing policy soon.

At the meeting, a board member proposed making the conditions for ending the bank's easing policy - several months of year-on- year increases in the consumer price index - easier to understand. Setting a higher target figure should be considered, this member said. Another member supported this view.

But this proposal was met with opposition. The possibility that the BOJ would lose policy management flexibility is too great, one member said. Another argued that setting such a target could cause volatility in the market and might undermine trust in the bank's policy-making.In the end, the board didn't agree to set such specific conditions.--DJ