BOJ chief surprises with dovish remarks, trimming odds of January hike

Japanese central bank stands pat in bow to sluggish economy

The BOJ statement after the meeting was little changed from the previous meeting, leaving little clue as to why the central bank refrained from a rate hike. (Photo by Konosuke Urata)

MITSURU OBE and CHIHIRO ISHIKAWA, Nikkei staff writers

December 19, 2024 11:56 JST

Updated on December 19, 2024 19:25 JST

TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan's chief voiced little concern about the weak yen and did not indicate any urgency to tighten monetary policy at a media briefing on Thursday, further dampening expectations of an imminent increase in the nation's key interest rate after standing pat earlier in the day.

The yen is nearing levels where Japan intervened in the foreign exchange market in the April to May period to shore up the currency against the dollar. But BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda appeared to shrug off such concerns on Thursday, saying that "import inflation is relatively stable on a year-on-year basis."