Kuroda reiterates commitment to hit price goal, says BoJ ready to use every possible tool

Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda was speaking earlier today at a news conference at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo. Kuroda in his first speech since the BOJ's decision last week repeated the BoJ’s message that the “the shape and the locations of the yield curve will broadly remain as they are at present”, and the BoJ will publish its October purchase plans at the end of the week.

Kuroda reiterated the BoJ's commitment to get inflation back to its 2-percent target and said that the central bank will use every possible tool to hit price goal. "While the BOJ would be mindful of the impact ultra-easy policy could have on banks' profits, that would not prevent it from expanding stimulus further if needed to revive Japan's economy." he said.

At its policy meeting last week, the BoJ made an abrupt shift of targeting interest rates on government bonds to achieve its elusive inflation target. Bank of Japan maintained -0.1 pct negative interest rate in line with forecasts and kept monetary policy base unchanged at 80 trl yen. The central bank decided to modify its policy framework, to abandon monetary base target and adopted QQE with yield curve control. Years of massive money printing failed to jolt the economy out of decades-long stagnation.

"There is no limit to monetary policy. In designing monetary policy, the BOJ will relentlessly pursue innovation and never hesitate to challenge," Kuroda said.