BoJ’s Noguchi: Weak Yen hurts households via rising prices, but benefits firms

Bank of Japan (BoJ) board member Asahi Noguchi is back on the wires this Thursday, commenting on the exchange rate value and the inflation outlook.

Additional quotes

It's important for wages to rise continuously, not just once.

Desirable for wages to rise next year more than this year.

Personally think it's necessary for nominal wages to rise more than the 2% inflation the BoJ targets.

Yens' decline late last year was too rapid.

Weak Yen hurts households via rising prices, but benefits firms via increase in overseas profits, rise in inbound tourism.

Overseas growth likely to slow toward next year, so it's important for domestic demand to underpin Japan's recovery.

FX should move stably reflecting fundamentals.

Monetary policy does not directly target FX.

We are finally seeing benefits of weak yen appearing such as more firms shifting production back to Japan.

BoJ’s decision last December to widen allowance band around its yield target was not monetary tightening.

Don't see need to make operational tweaks to YCC for time being.

We should prioritize keeping yields stably low to sustainably achieve our price target at earliest date possible.

Market reaction

USD/JPY is holding higher ground near 141.80 on the above comments. The spot is almost unchanged on the day.