MNI: BOJ Kuroda: No Plans To Hike 10-Year Yield Target For Now

     TOKYO (MNI) - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Tuesday that he

is "not at all" considering raising the 10-year bond yield from the current

target of around zero percent "for the time being" as the bank is still far from

achieving its 2% inflation target.

     "I'm not saying we will stick to the 10-year yield target at all cost until

we achieve the 2% price stability target, but for the time being, we are not

considering changing the 10-year yield target at all," Kuroda told a

parliamentary committee.

     Under the yield curve control framework adopted in September 2016, the BOJ

is trying to stabilize the 10-year government bond yield, the benchmark for

long-term borrowing costs, at around zero percent and keep the overnight

interest rate at -0.1%.

     Kuroda said the BOJ board's decision last month to stop publishing its

estimate for when it can achieve the 2% inflation target isn't directly linked

to the board's discussion on the side-effects of prolonged large-scale monetary

easing.

     He added that the decision is aimed at stressing the point that the

timeframe for achieving the 2% target is a forecast, not a rigid time limit.

     Until the bank's April 26-27 meeting, the latest, often-delayed timeframe

was to hit the target "around fiscal 2019."

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-2175-0040; email: hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4670-5309; email: max.sato@marketnews.com

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