Setsuo Otsuka

May 5, 2024 | asia.nikkei.com | Setsuo Otsuka |Nikkei senior

TOKYO -- How much longer will it take the U.S. to tame inflation? That is the question Japanese authorities must be asking themselves after currency market movements that look like attempts to support the yen. The past three weeks have been packed with exchange rate drama. A test of wills between the market and authorities has unfolded while the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan each faced their own policy challenges.

Jan 4, 2024 | asia.nikkei.com | Setsuo Otsuka

TOKYO -- Market hopes remain high that the Bank of Japan will end its negative interest rate policy as early as the first half of the year if wages and inflation continue to look solid, though it is expected to move more cautiously on a first rate hike in 17 years. Given the need to assess the impact of the powerful earthquake that struck Japan on Monday, investors see less of a chance that the central bank will act at a policy board meeting this month.

Dec 8, 2023 | asia.nikkei.com | Setsuo Otsuka |Nikkei senior

TOKYO -- The historically weak yen appears to be turning a corner amid speculation that the Bank of Japan's ultraloose monetary policy is ending, though structural weaknesses in the Japanese economy raise questions over the currency's ability to endure higher rates. The yen climbed to the 141 range against the dollar in New York on Thursday, before ending the session at around 144. Thursday's gain was spurred by BOJ Gov.

Apr 7, 2023 | asia.nikkei.com | Setsuo Otsuka |Nikkei senior

TOKYO -- Haruhiko Kuroda's final day as Bank of Japan governor on Saturday marks the end of an era in which the central bank's monetary policy was as unusual as its close relationship with the government. Kuroda has led the BOJ for total of about 3,670 days -- the longest of any governor since the bank's founding in 1882.

Apr 7, 2023 | asia.nikkei.com | Setsuo Otsuka