TOKYO – The head of the Bank of Japan expressed little concern over the weak yen and indicated no urgency to tighten monetary policy at a media briefing on Thursday, further dampening expectations of an imminent hike in the country’s key interest rate after standing pat earlier in the day .
The yen is approaching levels where Japan intervened in the foreign exchange market in April to May to strengthen the currency against the dollar. But BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda appeared to shrug off such concerns on Thursday, saying “import inflation is relatively stable on an annual basis.”
