BOJ Harada: Natural to ease policy immediately in response to big risks

[SHIMONOSEKI] Bank of Japan board member Yutaka Harada said on Wednesday it would be natural to ease monetary policy immediately if big risks to the outlook materialised.

The BOJ can come up with several different combinations of policy steps if it needed to ease, Mr Harada said at a news conference in Shimonoseki, southwestern Japan.

Mr Harada said a rising yen does weaken upward pressure on prices in Japan.

He said if the BOJ eased policy again soon, that would not violate its pledge to avoid taking incremental steps.

REUTERS