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REPEAT:MNI INSIGHT:BOJ Sees Abe Election, Fed Keeping Yen Weak

Repeats Story Initially Transmitted at 07:40 GMT Sep 27/03:40 EST Sep 27
--Weak Yen Gives BOJ Breathing Room To Pursue 2% Inflation Goal
By Hiroshi Inoue
     TOKYO (MNI) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to call a snap election
for next month and the U.S. Federal Reserve's continued policy tightening should
keep the yen relatively weak, buying the Bank of Japan some more time to guide
inflation a little closer to its 2% target, BOJ officials believe.
     However, the officials are not completely ruling out the risks that Abe's
ruling coalition could lose its majority, that the Fed will slow the pace of its
policy tightening due to continued weak inflation or that renewed investor risk
aversion will emerge due to geopolitical risks, all of which would put upward
pressure on the yen.
     Government and BOJ policymakers are comfortable with the dollar-yen
exchange rate ranging between Y105 and Y120. A rapid move either way beyond that
range would cause concern of a negative impact on Japan's modest economic
recovery. A stronger yen, in particular, would be troublesome, as it would cut
exporter profits and business sentiment, hurting the stock markets. It would
also lower import costs, making it harder for the BOJ to reach its 2% inflation
goal.
     While Japanese stock markets have been buoyant and the yen has depreciated
in recent trade, a resumption of investor risk aversion, which would prompt
safe-haven yen buying, could be triggered by heightened tensions between North
Korea and the U.S. over Pyongyang's nuclear arms threat.
     The coalition between Abe's Liberal Democratic Party and its small partner
Komeito are expected to lose some of their combined 322 seats in the Lower House
but are now seen likely to secure a simple majority of 233 seats. The lower
chamber's 475 seats will be reduced to 465 as part of parliamentary reform for
the next election.
     The BOJ is cautious, but hopeful, on the overall outlook.
     "The election results are highly uncertain and it is impossible to predict
the outlook for geopolitical risks," said a person familiar with BOJ thinking.
     "But looking ahead, as long as Prime Minister Abe stays in power, the trend
of the weak yen and the prospect for the government appointing a BOJ governor
who supports the easy policy stance should remain intact."
     The person added that a rapid yen rise on renewed investor risk aversion
would be a "very troublesome factor" for Japan's economy.
     Abe returned to power in late 2012, promising to correct the excessive
appreciation of the yen and "regain Japan" by overcoming deflation and being
more assertive in diplomacy.
     The five-year term of BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda ends on April 8 next
year. The Prime Minister's Office is expected to short-list his successor toward
the end of the year for parliamentary approval early next year.
     Abe announced Monday that he will dissolve the Lower House on Thursday to
call an early election to seek voter approval of a "drastic shift" in government
policy toward using the planned sales tax hike to fund new program spending
totaling Y2 trillion.
     Abe has defended his reflationary policy mix of aggressive monetary easing,
increased fiscal spending and structural reforms, saying more jobs have been
created since he returned to power in late 2012, although inflation remains far
from the 2% he had promised to achieve.
     Last week Fed policymakers decided to gradually shrink the central bank's
balance sheet starting in late October and left a December rate hike on the
table. Tighter U.S. monetary policy would increase the interest rate
differential between the U.S. and Japan, which would support demand for the
dollar.
     The yen weakened to around Y112.50 Thursday, a two-month low. The Nikkei
225 stock index closed at 20,397.58 Monday, up 101.13 points, or 0.50%, from
Friday's close, the highest level in two years.
     Another person familiar with BOJ thinking warned of the risk that Abe's
decision to push back his initial target for achieving a primary budget surplus
in fiscal 2020 by using the 2019 sales tax hike to fund his new spending
programs could cause a downgrading of Japan's sovereign debt ratings.
     However, the person said the impact of any downgrade on the Japanese
government bond market would be temporary, as the JGB market has exhibited only
knee-jerk reactions to ratings news in the past. Moody's Investors Service last
downgraded the credit ratings of Japan's debt to A1 from Aa3 in December 2014.
     It is uncertain if the Party of Hope, the new reform-minded conservative
party launched this week by Yuriko Koike, a popular Tokyo governor, will become
a threat to the current ruling coalition.
     There is little difference between Abe and Koike in the basic conservative
political stance -- more business-oriented in shoring up economic growth and
seeking a more assertive role by Japan by rewriting the post-war Pacifist
constitution.
     However, Koike is trying to appear different from Abe by calling for a
complete shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan and freezing plans to
raise the sales tax. If voters see a fresh image in Koike's party, it could
emerge as an alternative to Abe's LDP.
--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
--MNI BEIJING Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: john.carter@mni-news.com

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