Minutes of the January 20-21 Bank of Japan policy meeting out now:

  • Members agreed that Japan's economy gradually recovering
  • Export pick up due to global economy and weaker yen
  • Members agreed to share common forecast for oil prices as oil price swings could have big impact on CPI
  • Many members saw no change to long-term price trend
  • Many members said high chance of meeting inflation target around fy 2015 assuming gradual increase in oil prices
  • One member said inflation may approach 2 pct target but inflation is weakening due to falling oil
  • Many said uncertainty about oil prices could change timing of meeting inflation target
  • One member said difficult to meet inflation target as CPI excluding food and energy is around zero

Headlines via Reuters and Bloomberg

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Aaaand ... isn't USD/JPY going nuts! No, it isn't. Barely budged on these headlines