Kuroda Can’t Get to Yes. Should He Even Try?
Even in Japan, inflation is picking up. The central bank governor may still end up on the right side of history.
Kuroda remains resolute.
Photographer: Kazuo Horiike/Jiji Press/Bloomberg
Haruhiko Kuroda is summoning his inner Wim Duisenberg. The first president of the European Central Bank, Duisenberg resisted calls to adjust interest rates two decades ago with the retort “I hear, but I do not listen.”
At the time, Duisenberg was under pressure to follow the Federal Reserve and reduce the cost of money. Kuroda, the Bank of Japan governor, finds new ways every month to restate his refusal to mimic the Fed, and just about every counterpart, by lifting rates. The case for the status quo isn’t getting easier. Inflation in Tokyo climbed more than anticipated this month to the most since 1989, and well above of the 2% inflation target Kuroda has long strived to achieve.