The Bank of Japan decided to ruffle up its monetary policy at the end of July
But has things really changed? Ultimately, it is all about trying to achieve the 2% inflation target. Without doing so, Kuroda's hands are pretty much tied and there is no chance that the central bank will move towards normalising monetary policy - let alone embarking on a tightening cycle.
To say that it's been a long time coming would be an understatement. But to say that there is certainty in them achieving that price target would also be a blatant lie. And the fact that the yen is the best performing major currency in 2018 is not making for a good case for the BOJ and inflation:
Earlier in the year, the central bank made references on possibly achieving said inflation target by fiscal year 2019. They subsequently removed it thereafter saying that it was misleading but to informed market participants, you'd know there was no chance of them succeeding:
And with a sales tax hike to come next year as well, it's not likely that Kuroda is afforded much opportunity to toy around with monetary policy any more than he has - or at least not in any meaningful way.
So, what can Kuroda actually do? In essence, this is the best that he could already manage with. The only other option would be to reassess the bar so as to lower the 2% target instead. But that's more of an Abe decision than a Kuroda one I reckon.
Hats off to the man, he deserves an A for effort at the very least - and for giving us good napping materials from time to time during the day. ;)
