BOJ Minutes: appropriate to ditch the central bank’s timeframe for achieving its price target

Some Bank of Japan(BOJ) board members feel it is appropriate to ditch the timeframe for achieving the inflation target because investors are linking the timeframe to changes in the monetary policy, the minutes of the BOJ’s April policy meeting revealed on Wednesday.  

Key points (Source: Reuters)

Members noted that companies likely to gradually shift toward raising wages and prices
Many members said it is necessary to maintain the current easy policy
Some members said important to monitor the impact of monetary easing on the financial system
One member said necessary to encourage further widening of output gap into positive territory by taking additional easing measures
One member expressed concern that erasing timeline for inflation target could weaken BOJ’s commitment
Some members said attracting attention to timeframe not appropriate for communication with the market
Many members said market participants were linking timeframe to adjustments in monetary policy