Japan finance minister Suzuki says won’t comment on any BOJ policy steps to be taken

Japan finance minister Suzuki:

• won’t comment on any BOJ policy steps to be taken
• its up to the Bank of Japan to decide specifics of monetary policy
• this year’s wage negotiations yielding record-high wage growth so far
• we are clearly seeing good signs in the economy such as robust corporate spending appetite
• the government will deploy various policies so that positive momentum in wages continues

Suzuki making comments supportive of a Bank of Japan tightening. The meeting announcement is due sometime in the 0230 to 0330 GMT time window. The news flow of a March pivot has been relentless, the Bank of Japan has not appeared to push back against these reports, and yet there is still a niggling doubt that the Bank will wait until April.

Pivot for:

• BOJ to end yield curve control and ETF purchases — Nikkei
• BOJ to end NIRP and YCC, “a done deal” – here’s what might be a dovish surprise

Pivot against:

• It’s a close call, but not everyone expects the Bank of Japan to tighten policy today
• Bank of Japan won’t tighten policy – here’s why they’ll wait until April

Bank of Japan Governor Ueda

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.