Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government nominated two reflationist academics to join the Bank of Japan policy board on Wednesday, proposed appointments that weakened the yen against the dollar.

The government named Aoyama Gakuin University Professor Ayano Sato and Chuo University Professor Toichiro Asada as its candidates to replace outgoing BOJ board members Asahi Noguchi and Junko Nakagawa. Noguchi’s five-year term concludes at the end of March and Nakagawa’s finishes in June. (BBG – Continue Reading) 

Australia’s monthly inflation came in stronger than expected in January, driven largely by housing costs and suggesting monetary policy settings may need to be tightened further. 

Traders bolstered bets on a second interest-rate hike this year after official data showed the closely-watched trimmed mean gauge of consumer prices rose 3.4% last month from a year earlier. That exceeded economists estimate of 3.3% and meant the reading held above the top of the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% target band for a seventh straight month. (BBG – Continue Reading) 

Two Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday signaled no near-term appetite to change the setting of central bank interest rate policy.

Markets expect the Fed to lower rates again this year but officials, faced with a stabilizing job market and uncertainty over whether inflation pressures will moderate back to target, have not given much guidance about the prospect for more reductions in the cost of short-term borrowing. 

“I think that it's quite likely that it'll be appropriate to hold in the current range for some time,” Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins said as part of a panel discussion at a conference on technology held by her bank. But she added “there are different scenarios that are possible, and so it'll be important to continue to really take that patient, deliberate approach to making policy decisions.” (RTRS – Continue Reading)