BoJ maintains assessment for all 9 Japanese regions

Key quotes

BOJ keeps evaluation unchanged for nine regions of Japan in quarterly report.

Several regions report risk of steep export fall, output has decreased slightly.

Many regions report firms keeping strong capex plans, rise in chip equipment and orders on expanding global AI demand.

Many regions report firms, including smaller ones, delivered substantial wage hikes this year, though some warn rising pay may be hard to sustain. Many regions say companies maintain price increases to cover rising labor, distribution expenses.

Many regions report faster pass-through of rising raw material costs linked to Middle East conflict than before.

Multiple regions report companies considering food and daily essentials price hikes starting this summer.

Some regions report smaller companies struggling to transfer rising input costs, pressuring margins.

Market reaction

At the time of writing, USD/JPY is down 0.14% on the day at 162.35.

Bank of Japan FAQs

What is the Bank of Japan?

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is the Japanese central bank, which sets monetary policy in the country. Its mandate is to issue banknotes and carry out currency and monetary control to ensure price stability, which means an inflation target of around 2%.

What has been the Bank of Japan’s policy?

The Bank of Japan embarked in an ultra-loose monetary policy in 2013 in order to stimulate the economy and fuel inflation amid a low-inflationary environment. The bank’s policy is based on Quantitative and Qualitative Easing (QQE), or printing notes to buy assets such as government or corporate bonds to provide liquidity. In 2016, the bank doubled down on its strategy and further loosened policy by first introducing negative interest rates and then directly controlling the yield of its 10-year government bonds. In March 2024, the BoJ lifted interest rates, effectively retreating from the ultra-loose monetary policy stance.

How do Bank of Japan’s decisions influence the Japanese Yen?

The Bank’s massive stimulus caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers. This process exacerbated in 2022 and 2023 due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks, which opted to increase interest rates sharply to fight decades-high levels of inflation. The BoJ’s policy led to a widening differential with other currencies, dragging down the value of the Yen. This trend partly reversed in 2024, when the BoJ decided to abandon its ultra-loose policy stance.

Why did the Bank of Japan decide to start unwinding its ultra-loose policy?

A weaker Yen and the spike in global energy prices led to an increase in Japanese inflation, which exceeded the BoJ’s 2% target. The prospect of rising salaries in the country – a key element fuelling inflation – also contributed to the move.