Negative Rates Advocate Fujimaki Says BOJ's Kuroda Got It Wrong

The Bank of Japan took a wrong turn by adopting negative interest rates this year, says Takeshi Fujimaki, the Japanese banker turned opposition lawmaker who first called for sub-zero yields two decades ago.

Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s decision to charge for some deposits parked at the central bank is punishing those who hold the cash he just spent 2 1/2 years pumping into the economy. And the BOJ is boxing itself into a corner because it won’t be able to stop its asset purchases once inflation takes hold, raising the specter of fiscal collapse as yields soar, the 65-year-old lawmaker said.