ECB, BOJ will watch US Fed's outlook closely

Tokyo

BOTH European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi and Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor Haruhiko Kuroda need weaker currencies as they strive to reflate their economies, but they are not going to get it unless the US central bank lends them a hand.

The Federal Reserve's outlook to be announced on Thursday morning will be watched particularly closely by ECB and BOJ as their record monetary easing seems to be losing impact. The euro rose after ECB boosted stimulus last week, and the yen soon erased initial declines to advance after BOJ announced its first-ever negative-rate policy in January. The euro has risen 2.1 per cent against the US dollar this year and the yen has jumped 5.8 per cent.