The Bank of Japan (BoJ) board member Naoki Tamura crossed the wires during the Asian session on Thursday, saying that the path towards ending the easy policy is still very long.
- Japan's neutral rate is likely to be around 1% at the minimum.
- Will carefully examine the pros and cons of exiting easy policy.
The hawkish remarks reaffirm market expectations for an additional interest rate hike by the BoJ in 2024 and offer some support to the Japanese Yen (JPY), capping the USD/JPY pair's recovery from a multi-month low near the 143.00 mark.