BOJ Chief Denies Possible Surge in Deposit, Lending Rates

Jiji Press

16:52 JST, March 19, 2024

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Tuesday denied the possibility that the Japanese central bank ending its negative interest rate policy will result in a surge in deposit and lending rates.

“I don’t think that the deposit interest rates and lending interest rates will rise substantially following the latest (BOJ) decision,” Ueda told a press conference after the end of the BOJ’s two-day policy-setting meeting.

He also said that the country will be able to avoid a sharp rise in short-term interest rates under the central bank’s current outlook.

The BOJ at the Policy Board meeting that ended earlier on Tuesday decided to scrap its negative interest rate policy, the central bank’s first interest rate hike in 17 years.

On the other hand, the BOJ decided to maintain for the time being massive purchases of Japanese government bonds.

On this, Ueda said that the central bank “hopes to consider reducing JGB purchases at some point in the future.”