BOJ under intense pressure to announce bold new moves in wake of fiscal package

Tokyo

THE Bank of Japan is under intense political and market pressure to announce bold monetary actions on Friday after a government announcement on Wednesday that it had planned a fiscal stimulus programme amounting to 28 trillion yen (S$361 billion) or 5.6 per cent of Japan's GDP over the next several years.

Finance minister Taro Aso and economic affairs minister Nobutero Ishihara both urged the central bank on Thursday to come up with matching bold initiatives, while analysts warned that the yen would likely spike and Tokyo stocks slump if the BOJ disappoints market expectations.