BOJ facing currency conundrum heading into 2-day policy meeting

The Bank of Japan faces a difficult monetary policy decision at its two-day meeting beginning Monday, as the yen could further weaken if a policy tweak is not delivered as is expected by some in the financial markets.

However, many BOJ analysts expect both ultralow rates and the newly set 1.0 percent limit for 10-year Japanese government bond yields to be maintained, even if the central bank raises its inflation forecasts for fiscal 2023 and 2024 as expected in its quarterly outlook report due out at the end of the policy meeting.

While the BOJ aims to keep borrowing costs at rock-bottom level...