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