BOJ's Kuroda denies offering more exemptions from negative rates

[TOKYO] Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Wednesday he does not see room to make any other exemptions from the bank's negative interest rate policy besides money reserve funds (MRFs).

He also said the BOJ will not be tied to examples of European central banks that have negative rates in place, in deciding how much it will cut interest rates in the future. "Looking at examples in Europe, theoretically there is plenty of room (to cut rates). But we won't be tied to (the level of negative rates) in Europe," Mr Kuroda told parliament.

The BOJ on Tuesday decided to exempt roughly S$124.2 billion in short-term funds dubbed money-reserve funds (MRFs) from negative rates, after the securities industry warned that applying negative rates for these funds could curb investment in the stock market.

REUTERS