Bank of Japan governor Ueda hospitalised, will miss June meeting
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda was hospitalised ahead of the June policy meeting. The BoJ is widely expected to lift interest rates next week to levels unseen in three decades. The yen swung in Tokyo trade against the dollar.
According to a bank statement, Ueda was admitted to Mita Hospital in Tokyo and is under observation. The BoJ's June policy meeting will be chaired by Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida. The bank stressed in an official statement that the condition was not serious and that the rate decision would be taken by board vote.
Sources speaking to Reuters said a majority of board members are leaning toward raising the policy rate from 0.50 to 0.75 percent. The move would represent the highest level in three decades. The Nikkei 225 closed afternoon trade down 0.8 percent. The 10-year JGB yield rose to 1.55 percent.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters that economic management was continuing in coordinated fashion. Goldman Sachs Tokyo economist Naohiko Baba said the June decision could put short-term upward pressure on the yen. Dollar-yen tested the 153.80 level during the session. Not investment advice.
Read next
Trump comments on inflation after CPI hits three-year high
U.S. headline CPI rose to 4.2 percent year-on-year in May, the highest in three years. President Trump said inflation would drop once the war against Iran ends, referring to barrels of oil taken out of the market. The remarks reignited debate over the Fed's policy path.
China's consumer inflation stalls even as factory prices surge to a three-year high
Bolivia's failed economic model: from regional energy heart to blackout risk
Bank of Japan poised to lift policy rate to 1%
Australian dollar dives to two-month low as interest rate fears grip markets
