Japan’s Underlying Inflation Approaching 2 Pct: BOJ’s Ueda

Tokyo, Sept. 19 (Jiji Press)–Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said Friday that the country’s underlying inflation is approaching the central bank’s target of 2 pct. “Underlying inflation is still slightly below (the target) and in the process of approaching 2 pct,” Ueda said at a press conference following the BOJ’s policy-setting meeting that ended earlier in the day. At the Policy Board meeting, the BOJ decided to sell its holdings of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, and Japanese real estate investment trusts, or J-REITs, to the market, while holding interest rates steady. Ueda said it will take over 100 years for the central bank to sell off the ETFs it bought as part of its large-scale monetary easing policy. He defended the past ETF purchases as “necessary.” Regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s high tariffs, the BOJ chief said that the Japanese economy is “withstanding” the downward pressure from the tariffs. As the impact of the U.S. tariff policy may surface in the future, the BOJ is wary of the downside risks to both the Japanese economy and prices, he added. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]