Headlines on Bloomberg, reporting on a DJ (MarketWatch) piece

  • Abe adviser Koichi Hamada says the BOJ negative rate was a surprise

More (full MW piece here):

  • "The method is qualitatively different from that in the past. In that sense, [it was] a surprise"
  • Kuroda "probably wanted to give a distinct message" about his commitment to generate stable 2% inflation
  • Said the timing of central bank's action wasn't a surprise to him because he had expected it to undertake "some substantial measures in the current situation."

Says Market Watch:

Few investors or economists had anticipated the move, in part because BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda had repeatedly said over the preceding months that the bank's policy program centering on buying large amounts of assets from the financial markets was working well and that the bank wasn't considering implementing negative rates.