BoJ’s Suzuki: Some distance to achieving price target but economic expansion continuing

Bank of Japan (BoJ) monetary policy board member Hitoshi Suzuki is out on the wires now, via Reuters, making a speech on the central bank’s ultra-loose monetary policy programme.

Key Headlines:

Important to patiently maintain powerful monetary easing.

Some distance to achieving price target but economic expansion continuing.

Short-, long-term rates at levels in line with BOJ's policy guidance.

Must watch how massive monetary easing affecting Japan's economy, prices, financial developments.

Prolonged easing lowers borrowing costs for firms but also weighs on financial institutions' profits.

Must carefully watch how the US, European monetary policy normalization affects bond yields, emerging market fund flows.

Japan upward pressure steadily increasing as labor market tightens.

Making slow but steady progress in hitting BOJ price target.

Only halfway to BoJ price target.

Firms must transfer higher labor, raw material costs onto prices for inflation to accelerate further, which may take some more time.