Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Masazumi Wakatabe said Wednesday the review of the BOJ's policy tools for release in March is not aimed at reducing monetary easing but to respond quickly to future shocks to the economy.
Wakatabe told business leaders from Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo in an online meeting that economic activity and prices will face downward pressure "for a prolonged period" due to the coronavirus pandemic, but brushed off concern that Japan will return to deflation.
"In conducting the upcoming assessment, I would like to emphasize that the bank does not intend to tighten monetary easing. It also does not aim at only containing the costs of policy measures," Wakatabe said at the virtual gathering.