My Kuroda: Bank of Japan Lays Ground for Further Stimulus (Declining House Prices Like Puerto Rico)

Here we go again. MORE Central Bank intervention. But this time, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda isn’t waiting to see if negative interest rate policies will work, he wants MORE!(Bloomberg) – The Bank of Japan has left itself room to maneuver in coming months, indicating that more asset purchases and adjustments to its negative rate remain on the table after holding fire on further stimulus Tuesday.
With inflation far from the BOJ’s 2 percent inflation goal and growth stalling, most analysts forecast another expansion by the middle of this year. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said he doesn’t have to wait to see the full impact of the negative rate before his next move.
The stakes are rising for Kuroda, with household and corporate sentiment waning and investors questioning whether central bankers are reaching the limits with monetary policy. The language in the BOJ’s statement indicated a downgrade in its assessment of the economy, adding to expectations for a move between April and July.
‘The BOJ is laying the groundwork for a full dose of monetary easing,’ said Atsushi Takeda, an economist at Itochu Corp. ‘The BOJ probably wanted to de-emphasize the negative rate policy for now because of its poor reception among households and lawmakers, but I think the central bank knows it has to go deeper and head off talk it’s reaching the limit.’

This post was published at Wall Street Examiner by Anthony B. Sanders ‘ March 15, 2016.