BOJ Gov. Emphasizes Changes in Conditions for Monetary Policy

Tokyo, Sept. 18 (Jiji Press)--Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said Friday that conditions for the central bank's monetary policy management have changed.

"We don't assume a specific pace for further interest rate hikes," he told a press conference after the BOJ's decision earlier in the day to raise the policy interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to around 1.25 pct. It was the first interest rate hike in three months, the shortest interval between rate increases since the bubble economy era.

He added that the central bank will assess the likelihood of its economic and inflation forecasts being realized, as well as the associated risks, when determining the pace of further rate increases.

"Underlying inflation is quite close to our 2 pct target," the governor said. "It will take time to confirm whether the underlying price trend can be sustained at around 2 pct."

"It's important to ensure that underlying inflation does not move significantly above 2 pct and adversely affect the economy," he stressed.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]