by Leika Kihara and Makiko Yamazaki
Tokyo (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan (BOJ) left its unchanged interest rates on Wednesday, an unsurprising decision that highlights the desire of decision -makers in Tokyo to take the time to assess the potential impact for the Japanese economy, dependent on exports, customs duties imposed by the United States.
The two -day BOJ’s meeting was held against the backdrop of fears that the customs rights of US President Donald Trump causes global economic slowdown, while data shows that Japan is growing towards the 2% inflation objective of the Japanese central bank.
Is now eagerly awaited by the markets The press conference of the Governor of Boj, Kazuo Ueda, whose comments could make it possible to establish the calendar of an upcoming rate increase. Such a decision is made complicated by the contrast between rather reassuring national economic data and the uncertainty arising from Washington’s trade policy.
After noting the rates in January, BOJ officials voted unanimously at their meeting to maintain the short -term interest rate target at 0.5%.
In a statement announcing its decision, the Central Bank noted that “the Japan economy is recovering moderately, with some signs of weakness”, also expressing its confidence that the increase in wages makes it possible to support consumption and the economy as a whole.
Regarding the prospects, the BOJ has written that the increase in rice prices and the more measured effect of subsidies intended to cap the prices of fuel should have the consequence of climbing basic inflation for consumption during the fiscal 2025.
The horizon for the Japanese economy and inflation in the country remains “highly uncertain”, partly due to the repercussions of the trade measures decided abroad, it is written in the BOJ press release.
The BOJ’s meeting ended a few hours before that of the American Federal Reserve (Fed), which should also not change its monetary policy to examine the impact of reciprocal taxes announced by Donald Trump and having to enter into force on April 2.
Since last week, the United States has taken 25% customs duties from all imports of steel and aluminum, without exception. Supervyes on the automobile are also anticipated in April.
(Leika Kihara and Makiko Yamazaki, with the contribution of Satoshi Sugiyama and Kantaro Komiya; Jean Terzian)
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