BOJ governor comments from presser. Coming out live for first time after previously being embargoed and released in one hit.
- positive cycle works in economy driven by robust domestic demand
- consumption likely to fall from April in reaction to pent-up demand ahead of sales tax hike
- Japan likely to see consumer inflation reach 2% target around end of fiscal 2014 through early fiscal 2015
- BOJ to watch risks and adjust policy as needed
- Tankan outlook showed some caution, level still high
- Tankan shows companies expect prices to steadily rise
- Japan GDP to slump in Q2 due to sales tax hike but reobund in summer onwards due to improvements in job and income conditions
USDJPY dipped to 102.78 but has bounced to 102.85 currently having run into bids again down there
- downside risks posed by overseas economies have declined somewhat
- Japan’s output gap narrowing significantly due to tightening jobs market
- no need to worry too much about weak business outlook sentiment in Tankan
