Political pressure is growing in Japan for the Central Bank (Boj) to further ease its monetary policy, despite the recent decision taken by the board to leave the "near-zero" rate policy unchanged.
Indeed, the nine members of the central bank's policy board unanimously decided to keep the short-term interbank interest rate in a range between zero and 0,1% per year last Tuesday. The newly appointed Minister of Economy and Fiscal Policy Motohisa Furukawa is reportedly lobbying for another notch of easing in response to the economic crisis that the United States and Europe are experiencing and the worrying rise in the value of the yen.
Pressure would also come from the presidency of the Democratic Party now in power which has hoped for a convergence of positions between the Boje Government. The current prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, has reiterated, for the time being, that he will respect the independence of the central bank, a position supported by his finance minister Jun Azumi. Economists believe the BOJ wants to keep in hand the possibility of future easing should the financial system suffer renewed strain.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201109080456.html
