Minutes of the January 20-21 Bank of Japan policy meeting out now:
- Members agreed that Japan's economy gradually recovering
- Export pick up due to global economy and weaker yen
- Members agreed to share common forecast for oil prices as oil price swings could have big impact on CPI
- Many members saw no change to long-term price trend
- Many members said high chance of meeting inflation target around fy 2015 assuming gradual increase in oil prices
- One member said inflation may approach 2 pct target but inflation is weakening due to falling oil
- Many said uncertainty about oil prices could change timing of meeting inflation target
- One member said difficult to meet inflation target as CPI excluding food and energy is around zero
Headlines via Reuters and Bloomberg
Aaaand ... isn't USD/JPY going nuts! No, it isn't. Barely budged on these headlines