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Kuroda softens yen stance as export pain eases

Currency viewed as weak enough as BOJ nears inflation target

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda holds a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday as the BOJ maintained its stimulus program and stuck to its forecast that inflation will approach its 2 percent target next year. | REUTERS

By Hiroko Komiya and Kristine Aquino
Bloomberg

Jul 18, 2014

Foreign-exchange traders detect a softening in Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's stance toward the stronger yen.

While the currency has risen 4 percent this year to 101.31 per dollar, the central bank chief signaled this week he's satisfied with the current exchange rate. Kuroda told reporters in Tokyo the yen is no longer excessively strong and that the BOJ is on its way to meeting its inflation target.

"He seems to be just ready to sit, wait, watch," Sean Callow, a Sydney-based strategist at Westpac Banking Corp., said by phone Wednesday. Westpac sees the yen climbing to 100 versus the greenback by the end of this year.

Kuroda softens yen stance as export pain eases

Currency viewed as weak enough as BOJ nears inflation target

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