Some Bank of Japan officials expressed worries over signs of “adverse effects” of negative interest rates at their March policy meeting, underlining a sharp split among central bankers over the policy measure.
Some of the BOJ’s nine policy board members said the step to impose a charge on some deposits held by commercial banks had added to “anxiety among financial institutions and depositors” and made the central bank’s policy “difficult to understand,” according to the March 14-15 meeting minutes released Monday.
They also noted that the measure had “exacerbated” market volatility and created “excessive expectations for further monetary easing.”
The minutes, which don’t identify speakers by name, made it clear that tension over negative rates had hardly subsided since Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda pushed it through a divided board in January. At the March meeting, the BOJ left unchanged both its asset purchase program and its negative rate levels.
Those who appeared supportive of the negative rates continued to emphasize what they saw as the benefits of the policy.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has defended controversial new pension and tax reforms approved by parliament.
The measures are needed to unlock further international bailout money, to be discussed at a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers on Monday.
The debate in Greece's parliament on the reforms lasted for two days as MPs argued whether or not to pass the unpopular pension and tax reforms.
They will reduce some pension payouts, merge several pension funds, increase social security contributions and raise taxes for those on medium and high incomes.
Thousands of people demonstrated, mostly peacefully, in Athens and in the country's second-largest city, Thessaloniki.
Three days of a general strike paralysed public transport and slowed the public sector and the media.
Greece agreed to a third rescue package worth €86bn (£60bn) last year.
The International Monetary Fund and other European partners are demanding that Greece implement further austerity measures to generate nearly €4bn (£3.1bn) in additional savings - contingency money in case Greece misses future budget targets.
Japan ready to intervene if yen moves too volatile - finance minister
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Monday that Tokyo is ready to intervene in the currency market if yen moves are volatile enough to hurt the country's trade and economy.
Aso also said he did not think the United States considered Japan's currency policy to be inappropriate, but acknowledged the two countries differed in their views on what would be deemed excessive yen rises that justify intervention.
"For Japan, excessive volatility in yen moves that affect Japan's trade, economic and fiscal policies - be it yen rises or yen falls - is undesirable. If such moves occur, Japan is ready to intervene in the market," Aso told parliament.
The dollar hit an 18-month low of 105.55 yen last week after the United States added Japan to a list of countries it was monitoring over foreign exchange policies
Oil prices jumped this morning as a huge wildfire in Canada's oil sand region swallowed up well over a third of the country's typical daily production.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 1.8 per cent to $45.47 per barrel this morning, while West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, swelled 1.2 per cent to $45.92.
"Oil prices held as concerns over the impact of raging fires in Alberta,Canada, on supply from the oil sands projects lingered," ANZ bank said in a note.
It comes as Saudi Arabia ousted its long-serving oil minister who was the driver behind Opec's 2014 policy of holding production despite plummeting oil prices.
"Saudi Arabia will maintain its stable petroleum policies. We remain committed to maintaining our role in international energy markets and strengthening our position as the world's most reliable supplier of energy," Khalid al-Falih said yesterday.
"We are committed to meeting existing and additional hydrocarbons demand from our expanding global customer base, backed by our current maximum sustainable capacity."
Reference: MarketWatch, BBC, Reuters, City A.M.
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