BOJ Gov. Kuroda Denies Early Rate Hike

Tokyo, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)--Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Friday he does not expect the BOJ to carry out an interest rate hike or shift away from its ultraeasy monetary policy "anytime soon."

Kuroda suggested that the central bank will stick to its current easing policy for the time being, when speaking at a press conference after the BOJ's two-day monetary policy meeting through Friday in which the central bank decided to keep the policy intact.

The governor also described the yen's rapid weakening as "negative and undesirable" for the Japanese economy.

"It is a one-sided view to explain the current trend on the foreign exchange market by focusing only on the widening interest rate gap between Japan and the United States," Kuroda said.

The yen's weakening is widely believed to have been caused by the interest rate gap, which is expanding as the U.S. Federal Reserve have been aggressively raising interest rates to fight high inflation while the BOJ maintains its accommodative policy stance.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]