An opinion piece from an analyst at Japan Macro Advisors, published in the Financial Times .

Says

  • Japan's exports 'have been plummeting in the past five months'
  • both private consumption and business investment in Japan contracted in the first quarter of 2019

And asks: It is time for the BoJ to face the question again: What more can it do?

The part that caught me eye was this:

  • The Japanese government can intervene in foreign exchange markets by selling the yen, but past forex interventions proved ineffective when they were not supported by a consistent change in monetary policy.
  • A direct intervention also seems particularly risky in the era of Donald Trump, who has repeatedly accused China of manipulating exchange rates. In the past, FX intervention tends to fail as soon as markets see that the international community does not support it.

So, while raising the possibility of yen intervention it does not seem likely.

It concludes the BOJ may have to enact furterh unconventional measures.

Link here for more, may be gated.