Kuroda defends policy direction, says Japan price trend improving

Tokyo

IN the face of growing market doubts about the effectiveness of the Bank of Japan's massive monetary easing, BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda insisted on Wednesday that the policy direction is right and that "the broad trend in prices is steadily improving" while income and spending trends are also improving in Japan.

Pressure has mounted for the central bank to lay out an "exit strategy" from its quantitative easing (QE) strategy, which critics claim has depreciated the yen excessively and is distorting financial markets. But a source close to Mr Kuroda told The Business Times that such an exit is still "far off" in the governor's mind.