Sumitomo Mitsui chief FX strategist Hirofumi Suzuki said BOJ board member Takata
cast a dissenting vote but that is unlikely to be a major market catalyst. The
BOJ has adjusted the pace of ETF sales, though at the current pace liquidating
its ETF holdings would still take about 43 years, so market impact may be
limited. Compared with previous assessments, the BOJ acknowledged underlying
inflation excluding transitory factors has reached its 2% target. Recent
developments in France and US equity weakness have tightened global financial
conditions, and intermittent appreciation/USD/JPY moves reduce immediate
pressure on the BOJ to raise rates.
