The Bank of Japan will most likely keep its monetary policy unchanged at its January meeting, noted Economist Lee Sue Ann at UOB Group.

Key Quotes

“The BoJ, in December 2019, kept its monetary policy stance, policy rate and asset purchase targets all unchanged as widely expected. We believe continued forward guidance without action will be insufficient, and with economic data turning south, the BoJ will eventually need to act. We expect the BoJ to renew easing monetary policy via deepening its negative policy call rate to -0.2% possibly in the later part of 1Q20 (from -0.1% presently).