Ueda President "Interest Rate Hike Policy Will Continue"
Kazuo Ueda, Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), said on the 23rd that the financial market situation is still unstable and that he will "watch closely with high vigilance."
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) and others on the same day, Governor Ueda made these remarks during the Lower House Financial Affairs Committee review regarding the fluctuations in the Japanese stock market and the yen-dollar (yen-dollar) exchange rate earlier this month following the interest rate hike at the end of last month. This was his first appearance before the parliament since the stock market crash earlier this month.
Regarding future interest rate hikes, he said, "There is no change in the basic stance of adjusting the degree of monetary easing if it is confirmed that the economic and price outlooks are realized as expected." While considering market trends, he maintains the position of continuing the interest rate hike policy.
The Bank of Japan raised the short-term policy interest rate from 0?0.1% to 0.25% on the 31st of last month. Coupled with weakening U.S. employment statistics, the Nikkei 225, the representative stock index of the Japanese stock market, plunged 4,451 points on the 5th and then surged 3,217 points on the 6th, causing significant volatility.
The yen-dollar exchange rate, which had exceeded 160 yen per dollar in early last month, once recorded the 141 yen range.
On the same day, the Nikkei index closed at 38,364.27, up 0.4% from the previous day in the Tokyo stock market. Around 16:15 in the afternoon, the yen-dollar exchange rate was moving around 145.54 yen per dollar.
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