Report
TOE Alert: BOJ throws in the towel
posted by Richard Katz on September 21, 2016
Found in Japan, categorized in Monetary Policy

Report Cover
Headline
In short, it is time for the BOJ to admit that monetary policy is absolutely necessary, but not sufficient, to bring back lasting inflation.
Abstract
The keypoints of this report include,
- The Bank of Japan has abandoned the pretense that it can achieve its 2% inflation target in two years, or any other particular timeframe
- In the face of pressure from private banks, it refrained from going more deeply into negative rate territory regarding bank reserves at the BOJ
- In another so-called “new framework” it has switched its main operating target: from an increase in the monetary base to keeping 10-year bond yields at zero
- The BOJ also issued a Comprehensive Assessment of why it failed to meet its 2% target, but there is not a lot of culpa in its mea culpa; it keeps insisting that its policy will eventually work
- There is no talk of what is really needed: a fiscal-monetary combination