Reuters polling of analysts shows that 25 of 30, or 83%, said the central bank will ditch its minus 0.1% short-term deposit rate at the April meeting:
- 2 of them said in March, which has been in place since January 2016
- 76%, also expect the BOJ to scrap yield curve control in April
Reuters adds:
- "(The BOJ) can make a decision at April's meeting based on the preliminary results of the annual labour-management wage talks for big firms and the hearings from BOJ branch managers on wage trends in small and mid-sized firms," said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities.
- Two entities, Daiwa Securities and T&D Asset Management, chose March. Another said June and two others selected 2025 or later.
- "The longer (BOJ) waits, the more likely it is to miss the right moment as the uncertainty of foreign factors increase," said Mari Iwashita, Daiwa Securities' chief market economist, referring to an impending policy shift by the BOJ's peers
