Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda is delivering some comments on the central bank’s monetary policy outlook on Friday.

Key quotes

“Falling raw material costs likely to slow inflation in coming months.”

“BoJ must avoid tightening monetary policy prematurely to ensure Japan sustainably achieves its 2% target.”

The BoJ could make tweaks to YCC "if the balance between the benefit and cost of the policy shifts."

"If the BoJ were to modify YCC in the future, there are various ways of doing so.”

“Shortening the duration of bond yields it targets to the five-year zone from the current 10-year zone could be among options."

"But I won't comment on whether we would definitely do so, how likely this could happen, or under what conditions the BoJ would see this option as desirable.”

Market reaction

USD/JPY is off the yearly highs of 140.23, consolidating at around 139.85, as of writing. The pair is down 0.14% on the day.