MNI POLICY: Little Data, Virus May Cut BOJ June Meet To 1 Day

--With Whole Q2 Data In Focus For Policymakers, June Too Early To See

By Hiroshi Inoue

     TOKYO (MNI) - With little in the way of fresh hard economic data expected

in coming weeks and the Covid-19 pandemic still a threat to health, the Bank of

Japan may follow the April lead and trim its mid-June meet to a single day, MNI

understands.

     If the BOJ does drop an day and follows precedent in announcing the move,

it will use June 11, the first day of the black-out period to do so -- it

dropped a day from the April meeting, announcing on black-out day 1.

     The only data for policymakers in June will refer to April -- largely

historical data in the scheme of things or financial markets - and it has

already been written off as disastrously bad.

     The BOJ is looking closely at the whole of Q2 and hopes data for the next

few weeks will give a greater understanding of the uncertainties surrounding the

economy, with particular focus on how sentiment Is holding up at firms and

businesses, but that data won't be available to the Board in mid-June.

     The BOJ will review its medium-term outlook at the July meeting after

examining the above factors, which will come into view in July.

     As of now, BOJ officials see downside risks as the country emerges from the

lockdown rules, with unknown risks surrounding the virus and future

restrictions, although they still see a recovery starting in the second half of

the year, helped by a slowdown in the virus and the volume of monetary and

fiscal stimulus.

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

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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