The euro recovered from record highs near 187.00 to 185.60 at the time of writing, and all yen rates fell sharply after Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Ueda’s press conference. Earlier, the pair extended its rally above 186.00 following the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) monetary policy decision to hit fresh record highs above 186.80.
The Japanese yen fell against its main competitors after Kazuho Ueda confirmed that the central bank’s committee needed to understand the impact of previous interest rate increases before tightening monetary policy further.
Ueda also said that conditions remain accommodative despite the December raise, with core inflation approaching 2%, suggesting the bank remains committed to gradually increasing interest rates.
The BOJ left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.75% on Friday, in line with broad expectations, after a 25-basis-point hike in December that brought interest rates to a 30-year high.
The yen has been steadily depreciating since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced early elections earlier this week. Investors fear that Takaichi’s rising popularity will give her more parliamentary support to continue her fiscal largesse, which could trigger a debt crisis.
Economic indicator
BoJ decision on interest rates
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) announces its decision on interest rates after each of the Bank’s eight scheduled annual meetings. Generally speaking, if the BoJ is hawkish on the economy’s inflation outlook and increases interest rates, it is bullish on the Japanese yen (JPY). Similarly, if the BoJ takes a dovish view of the Japanese economy and keeps interest rates unchanged or lowers them, this is usually negative for the yen.
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Last release:
Friday 23 January 2026 03:07
Frequency:
Irregular
Actual:
0.75%
Agreement:
0.75%
Previous:
0.75%
Source:
Bank of Japan
