For Masahiro Hidaka's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
While Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has underscored how much work still lies ahead, when the central bank does finally hit its inflation target and exits stimulus, it is likely to face huge balance sheet losses. Kuroda has brushed off the need to discuss ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration has a habit of co-opting Nobel Prize-winning economists when it lays the groundwork for contentious policy decisions. It's not surprising then that the visit of Christopher Sims, a professor at Princeton University, has ignited speculation in Japan that the government ...
Critics say Kochi Shinkin Bank has lost its way and is acting more like an investment firm than a regional lender. Supporters say it shows that provincial banks can thrive in Japan even as their customer base shrinks, so long as they're prepared to ...
Masayoshi Amamiya is viewed as so essential to operations at the Bank of Japan that he's known inside the central bank as "Mr. BOJ." With the shift in recent months from a blitz on deflation to a long-haul campaign that's set to outlast Gov. Haruhiko ...
The Bank of Japan's unprecedented review of its unprecedented monetary policy has stepped up focus on a key group of Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's allies. A trio of top officials in the Monetary Affairs Department, led by Executive Director Masayoshi Amamiya — referred to by some ...
Having adopted a negative interest rate on some excess reserves to penalize financial institutions for leaving money idle, the Bank of Japan may consider helping them lend by offering a negative rate on some loans, according to people familiar with talks at the BOJ. Such ...
The Bank of Japan is poised, for the third time in less than a year, to push back the time frame for reaching its inflation target, making it harder for policymakers to hold off from enlarging monetary stimulus. Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda until now has been ...
Bank of Japan officials are increasingly expressing disappointment at subdued annual wage talks, according to people familiar with the discussions, making next week's monetary-policy decision a closer call. Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has said publicly that pay raises have been muted given the tighter jobs market ...
Poor data for exports and industrial output have the potential to force the Bank of Japan into bolstering stimulus later this month, said a former chief economist for the BOJ. Weak production could destroy the picture the central bank has presented of an economy that ...
The Bank of Japan's unprecedented monetary stimulus can drive inflation to its 2 percent target, Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said as the bank left its policy unchanged and trimmed its price outlook. A slowdown in Japan's economy is unlikely to continue this quarter while inflation could ...
