Ishiba kicked off his term as PM by saying Japan’s economy was not ready for further Bank of Japan rate hikes.

He has back peddled, and did so again over the weekend:

• „It’s important to avoid vocally intervening“ in monetary policy affairs
• Or even appear as if he was doing so
• „the Bank of Japan makes an individual decision on policy“
• „I believe the BOJ’s governor and staff have a strong sense of responsibility over achieving price stability“

Ishiba threw in a few comments on the economy though:

• consumption needs lifting to help achieve a sustained departure from deflation
• real wages need to boosted

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.