Japan fiscal policy will not rely on BOJ bond buying: finance chief

The Japanese government must dispel market perceptions that its fiscal policy is reliant on the Bank of Japan’s bond buying, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Tuesday, adding that fiscal reconstruction must be prioritized after the first leadership change at the central bank in a decade.

Suzuki told a press conference that the ministry will leave the BOJ to decide monetary policy under new Governor Kazuo Ueda, who has expressed his view that the current monetary policy framework, including its program to keep borrowing costs at rock-bottom levels, is appropriate.

The BOJ’s massive bond pur...