BoJ's Ueda: Bank will cut back on buying JGBs irrespective of data

Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda spoke at a seminar hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics on Friday. Ueda said that the Japanese central bank "very likely" will raise interest rates if underlying inflation continues to go up and begin reducing its bond-buying in the future, though the timing undecided. 

Key quotes

"BoJ must maintain loose monetary policy for the time being as underlying inflation remains "somewhat below" its 2% target, and long-term inflation expectations are still near 1.5%."

"BoJ will also begin to cut its purchases of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) (timing and extent of the reduction are yet to be determined)."

"Irrespective of what the data will say in the near future, we will like to find a way and timing to reduce the amount of JGB purchases."

"If underlying inflation continues to go up, we will very likely be raising interest rates."

Market reaction

The USD/JPY pair is trading at 154.62, losing 0.01% on the day at the time of writing.