Bank of Japan chief makes yen jump — but versions of what he said differ
Newly appointed Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda answers a question during his first regular press conference at the bank’s headquarters in Tokyo on April 4, 2013. The Bank of Japan’s new chief said he would not hesitate to take ‘other necessary steps’ to boost the nation’s limp economy, after unveiling a raft of fresh monetary easing measures.
One of the hottest stories in the world is the decline of the Japanese yen, thanks to the aggressive easing by the Bank of Japan.
In such a central bank-obsessed environment, the utterances of central bank chiefs become important events.
And we had an interesting moment just now, as the yen jumped significantly in the matter of seconds.
Bloomberg just ran a headline saying:
*KURODA SAYS BOJ HAS DONE WHAT'S NECESSARY AND POSSIBLE FOR NOW
But as Sebastien Galy of SocGen notes, Reuters ran this headline:
KURODA: TOOK ALL NECESSARY STEPS LAST WEEK TO ACHIEVE 2 PCT INFLATION TARGET IN 2 YEARS'
The first translation implies that it would be impossible for the BOJ to do anything more.
The second translation is not quite so limiting, just saying it did the maximum it could do last week (but doesn't say that there's not more it will be able to do).
And in fact, if you read the full BOJ wire piece, it actually sounds like Kuroda is willing to stimulate for longer than he prevously indicated.
So yes. If you're trading the yen, perhaps you should brush up on your Japanese.
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