The Bank of Japan ended its policy meeting on Thursday with a commitment to keep monetary policy unchanged. The BOJ signaled confidence that an increase in overseas demand will help support the country’s economic recovery. The central bank cut its inflation forecast marginally for this fiscal year and hinted that it will maintain its aggressive stimulus plan in the near term in order to achieve its 2 percent inflation target.
The BOJ also increased its real GDP forecast for the 2017-2018 fiscal year to 1.6 percent from the 1.5 percent it forecast in January, but it reduced its core consumer price index (CPI_ growth forecast to 1.4 percent from the 1.5 percent forecast in January.
The yen traded fairly flat following the news at 111.20 against the U.S. dollar as of 6:19 a.m. GMT, down from the one-month high of 111.26 yen hit on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.3 percent in early Asian trade and Asian shares were lower across the board as traders expressed concern over U.S. President Donald Trump’s upcoming tax proposal which is due out later on Thursday. Trump’s plan has been billed as the biggest tax cut in history, but the one-page proposal has thus far failed to offer details on how he will cut deficit, which analysts think can be a difficult goal.
Also scheduled for later on Thursday is an ECB policy meeting which will discuss the potential for reducing monetary stimulus efforts in the coming months. The euro was trading at $1.0906 at 6:28 a.m. GMT, near the 4 ½ month high of $1.09515 hit on Wednesday.