BOJ’s Amamiya: Japan's real GDP remains below pre-pandemic levels, keeping inflation subdued

Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya made some comments on the Japanese economy and inflation outlook during his appearance on Tuesday.

Key quotes

Japan's consumer inflation may accelerate to around 2% from April but still modest compared with US, Europe.

There is growing chance rises in inflation seen in US, European countries may be sustained.

US, western countries' inflation may return to low levels once pandemic's impact, supply constraints ease.

Japan's real GDP remains below pre-pandemic levels, keeping inflation subdued.

Japan firms' cautious stance toward wage, price hikes also keeping inflation subdued.

We must humbly look at real data to gauge why Japan’s inflation remains lower than that of US, Europe. And whether structural factors are behind this.

Market reaction

At the time of writing, USD/JPY is losing 0.55% on the day to trade at 123.22. The yen met fresh demand, in the face of the Japanese fiscal year-end flows.

The pair is almost 1 big figure down from its daily highs of 124.31, reached after the BOJ conducted unlimited bond buys on Tuesday.