Washington: Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, at a symposium in Washington on Saturday, reiterated that the central bank will continue its current monetary easing policy.

Kuroda said it is appropriate for the BOJ to continue the easing policy that supports the Japanese economy, in order to achieve without fail its inflation target in a stable and sustainable manner and in a way that involves wage growth.

The BOJ chief noted that although Japan’s consumer price inflation is currently above the bank’s 2 pct target, due chiefly to rises in international resources prices and food prices, it is projected to fall back below 2 pct in the next fiscal year.

At a separate event in the U.S. capital the same day, BOJ Deputy Governor Masazumi Wakatabe said that the yen’s recent plunge past 148.50 against the dollar was obviously an excessively rapid and one-sided move.

Wakatabe added that the Japanese government and the BOJ could respond to such a move by intervening in the foreign exchange market.

JIJI Press