Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) woes in Tokyo and peripheral regions, Japan’s Nikkei came out with the news suggesting that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is considering a cut to its Fiscal Year 2020-21 (FY2020-21) growth forecast, period ending on March 31, 2021.
It should, however, be noted that Japan’s gross domestic product grew 0.5% in real terms during November, expanding for the sixth consecutive month, an estimate released Tuesday by the Japan Center for Economic Research shows, per the news.
That said, the BOJ has downgraded its GDP forecasts for FY 20210-21 to -5.5% versus -4.7% previous estimation during the late-October meeting.
FX implications
USD/JPY ticks up from the intraday low of 103.72 to 103.85 before Wednesday’s Tokyo open on the news. However, expectations the BOJ is already on the easy money path poured cold water on the face of the USD/JPY bulls.