The Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting is on Thursday and Friday this week. The 15th and 16th of June.
The statement will be Friday, most likely in the 0230 to 0330 GMT time window (there is no firmly scheduled time or the BOJ announcement). This is from 10.30 to 11.30pm Thursday US Eastern time.
Bank of Japan Governor Ueda will conduct the regular post-meeting news conference at 0630 GMT (0230 US Eastern time Friday).
A piece in Japan media sets out one political reason and 3 others for the Bank to sit pat this week:
- a less distorted bond market,
- continued weakness in wages
- the threat of an early election
- Bank of Japan Governor Ueda has also repeatedly signalled his intention to take time before making any major changes to the central bank’s stimulus
“The amount of bonds the central bank will have to buy to keep the yield-curve control program will probably be limited compared with the amount in January,” said Ataru Okumura, senior rates strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities. “Therefore, there is a low chance for the BOJ to deliver an early tweak by risking their credibility on communications with the market.”
On the politics:
- Speculation continues to smoulder that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will call an early election to capitalize on a bump in public support following the hosting of Group of Seven leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Hiroshima last month. As Kishida’s pick to helm the BOJ, Ueda may be reluctant to consider any tweaks to policy that could disrupt markets and reflect badly on the prime minister while there is election talk in the air. Still, 40% of polled economists said a snap poll wouldn’t get in the way of policy adjustment.
Here is the link to the article for more, may be gated.
Earlier preview here:
