BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda begins his press conference
- BOJ will ease further without hesitation if needed
- Expects impact of the virus outbreak to weaken in 2H 2020
- Risks are tilted to the downside
- Once the virus is contained, the economy will start recovering
- Uncertainty is high with regards to the timing on when the virus outbreak will end
- There is no change in the BOJ's stance to achieve 2% price target
- Will continue with powerful monetary easing persistently
These are more or less the usual platitudes being offered up by Kuroda. In case you missed it, the central bank went 'unlimited' in their bond buying purchases earlier here.
However, I'd argue that it is more related to communicating their resolve rather than a major shift in policy since they are already meeting their yields target and have been easing up on JGB purchases in recent times.
