BOJ's Sato sees flexibility on timing of QE exit, mum on details

Bank of Japan board member Takehiro Sato said on Thursday the central bank can be flexible on the timing of an eventual exit from its monetary easing, a sign that simply reaching its 2 percent price stability goal will not trigger immediate action. Sato also said he is confident that consumer prices can continue to rise as improvements in the output gap have a lagging impact on prices. The central banker also stressed that the BOJ's economic forecasts anticipate volatile swings in demand caused by a scheduled increase in the sales tax, suggesting he sees little need to adjust policy in the short term. "If the BOJ can judge that 2 percent will be sustainably achieved, it is possible to exit our policy before inflation actually reaches that level," Sato said after giving a speech to financial professionals.

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