Jiji News Agency reported on Thursday that a senior official at the Bank of Japan said the central bank wants to maintain an accommodative monetary environment as much as possible. Jiji News Agency quoted Kazushige Kamiyama, head of the Osaka branch of the Bank of Japan, saying that the upcoming policy meeting of the central bank will be “extremely important.”
Kamiyama, who currently resides in the western city of Japan, has previously held key positions such as Chief Economist at the bank. Some market participants expect the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates from their current near-zero levels once the next monetary policy meeting is held on July 30-31.
The central bank has faced political pressure to raise interest rates. Digital Transformation Minister Taro Kono, speaking on Bloomberg Television on Wednesday, called on the Bank of Japan to increase interest rates to strengthen the yen, saying the Japanese currency is “too cheap.”
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, responding to a question about Kono’s comments, said that the central bank’s monetary policy is not aimed at guiding foreign exchange rates but at achieving its price target, adding that specific policy measures are for the Bank of Japan to decide.
In a regular press conference, Hayashi said: “We expect the Bank of Japan to continue working closely with the government, focusing on economic, price, and monetary conditions, to implement its monetary policy appropriately towards achieving the 2% price target in a sustainable and stable manner.”
