Japan finance minister asks trade minister to avoid remarks on BOJ policy

TOKYO — Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Tuesday (April 14) she and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had told the trade minister to avoid commenting on the Bank of Japan's monetary policy, stressing decisions on policy tools should be left to the BOJ.

On Sunday, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa said an April hike "could be among options" to support Japan's currency as the country's real interest rates remained quite low.

When asked about the comment, Katayama said "the trade minister is not in charge of monetary policy and under the law, decisions on the BOJ's specific policy tools should be left to the central bank itself."

"Prime Minister and I also told Akazawa when we met him at the meeting yesterday of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy that we would like him to refrain from making remarks on the matter," she said at a regular media conference.

Once seen as a strong possibility, a BOJ rate hike in April is turning into a fainter prospect as fading hopes of an end to the Middle East conflict keep markets volatile and muddle the outlook for a fragile economy.

Discussing the recent rise in long-term Japanese government bond yields, which briefly climbed to 2.49 per cent, their highest level in nearly three decades, Katayama said Japan's debt management policy rests on close dialogue with markets and that bond auctions would be conducted as normal.

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