Just to provide a bit of context, Ito is also touted to be a potential successor to Kuroda for the top job at the BOJ, and he has previously worked closely with Kuroda together at Japan's finance ministry and was also Kuroda's inspiration for adopting the 2% inflation target in Japan. In an opinion column, he acknowledged the central bank's efforts to fix market functionality after having tweaked its yield curve control policy last week:
"Kuroda is correct on this technical point. But the tweak to the YCC could still be the first step toward monetary-policy normalization. If so, it should be heralded as a sign that the BOJ has had some success with its decade-long ultra-easy monetary policy. Kuroda’s Bazooka, as it is colloquially known, may have hit its mark."
Ito goes on to argue that "next year’s 'spring offensive' – annual pay negotiations – is expected to bring large wage hikes, partly to compensate for the higher inflation rate in 2022". Adding that such a scenario would "be an ideal initial condition for the BOJ to start hitting its inflation target on a more sustainable basis" and "bring a happy ending to Japan’s decade-old ultra-easy monetary policy".
The full post can be found here.