BOJ's Kiuchi says changing 10-year bond target 'not easy'

[KOFU, JAPAN] Bank of Japan board member Takahide Kiuchi said on Thursday changing the central bank's 10-year government bond yield target would not be easy as doing so frequently could erode its credibility. "It would be unreasonable to raise the 10-year bond yield target in the near future when the inflation rate remains at a low level," Mr Kiuchi said in a speech to business leaders in Kofu, in the eastern Japanese prefecture of Yamanashi.

A former market economist, Kiuchi has been the sole opponent of the BOJ's massive asset-buying programme and has been proposing unsuccessfully to taper asset purchases.

He also voted against the BOJ's decision last September to guide short-term interest rates at minus 0.1 per cent and 10-year government bond yields around zero percent.

The BOJ revamped its policy framework in September last year to one better suited for a long-term battle with deflation, after three years of aggressive asset purchases failed to accelerate inflation to 2 per cent.

REUTERS