BOJ chief says central bank will patiently maintain policy

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BOJ chief says central bank will patiently maintain policy

Tokyo Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Tuesday the central bank will patiently maintain its extremely-loose monetary policy, downplaying expectations for a policy change in the near-term.

We expect inflation to quite clearly slow below 2 per cent toward the middle of the current fiscal year, he said.

Inflation is likely to rebound, though there is high uncertainty on the prospects, he said.

In this year's annual wage negotiations, positive signs included a likely big rise in pay, a move that could help shake off Japan's deflationary mindset.

We will patiently continue monetary easing as there's still distance to achievement of sustainable and stable 2 percent price hikes together with continued rises in wages, said Ueda, adding that the BOJ would also continue its long-term government bond buying operations for now.

The comments come as markets speculate that Ueda will soon begin to phase out his predecessor's stimulus to address the rising side effects of prolonged easing, including distortions that its huge bond buying are causing in market prices.