The Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting concludes today. The BOJ does not schedule a time for the decision announcement.
- The announcement / statement will come when the BOJ is ready to make it
- On past experience, the time window for the announcement is most likely 0230 to 0330 0230-0330GMT for a two day meeting like this one
- What is scheduled is Governor Kuroda's post-meeting press conference, that's at 0630GMT
So, what to expect today? (ps. I did an earlier preview, here)
- The previous meeting produced the surprise introduction of negative rates
- Its a near unanimous consensus that the bank will be on hold at this meeting while the new policy is assessed and time is given for market participants and the public to come to grips with it also.
- While 'on hold' is expected, most in the market are expecting further easing (many by July)
The reasons cited to expect further easing include:
- The BOJ is still a long way away from its 2% inflation target
- Japan's economy contracted in Q4 of 2015
- Sentiment amongst consumers and businesses is weak
- The yen has appreciated since the start of 2016
