We all know that Kuroda fooled the markets on negative rates, denying their consideration right up to a January 21 interview.

Which, in effect, has cost him credibility, but also bullets in his fight for a weaker yen.

Such a shame.

This piece from Reuters takes an inside look at Kuroda even fooled the BOJ Board (bolding is mine):

  • Most of the nine board members were only told of the scheme in the week leading up to Friday's rate review, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials familiar with the deliberations.
  • "If you're a board member, you're told about the plan at the last minute," said a former board member, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's hard to argue against it or draft a counter proposal when there's so little time left."

More:

  • Before leaving for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan. 22, Kuroda instructed his staff to come up with options for further easing
  • Plan formulated by four top officials from the monetary affairs department
  • At the BOJ's headquarters in Tokyo, monitoring signs alert staff with a flashing red light to show when a board member has visitors in their rooms on the eighth floor.
  • In the days leading up to the Jan. 29 meeting, the lights for the three swing voters on the divided board glowed red for hours, as a handful of top officials lobbied furiously for the plan.

The article is a good read, link here at Reuters