Kuroda dismisses talk of further rate cuts

Tokyo

BANK of Japan (BOJ) governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Wednesday sought to allay concerns that the Japanese central bank could move further into negative interest rate-territory, in a move that would widen the gap between an ultra-loose BOJ monetary policy and the tightening imposed by other leading central banks.

He told Parliament that the likelihood that the BOJ would deepen negative interest rates is slim for now, but he added that the central bank would stand ready to ease further if it became necessary to achieve the economy's 2 per cent inflation target.