To: mishedlo who wrote (23229 ) 2/9/2005 12:51:25 PM From: Crimson Ghost Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 116555 BOJ May End Policy If Core CPI Rises 0.1%, Suda Says (Update3) Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Core consumer price inflation of 0.1 percent might be enough to prompt the Bank of Japan to end its policy of holding rates at zero and pumping money into the economy, a policy maker said. ``An increase of 0.1 percent would be acceptable'' to end the policy, known as quantitative easing, Miyako Suda said today at a news conference in Hakodate, northern Japan. Suda's remark on core prices was a response to a question about whether an increase of 0.1 percent amid a sustainable economic recovery would be enough to end the policy. Suda repeated the Bank of Japan's pledge to keep the policy until core prices stop declining for several months and board members are sure they won't resume their slide. Core prices, which exclude fresh food, have risen in just one month since April 1998. ``We want to continue to stand by this policy to ensure that we have an accountable monetary policy,'' Suda said. ``It is ridiculous that monetary policy should be pushed around by individual price indicators.'' The bank last October forecast that core prices will gain 0.1 percent in the fiscal year starting April 1. Policy maker Atsushi Mizuno said in an interview on Jan. 24 that the central bank might have to abandon that forecast. As part of its policy, the bank keeps the target for reserves available to lenders between 30 trillion yen and 35 trillion yen. Suda said earlier today that the balance might fall below 30 trillion yen temporarily if demand for funds remained low. Recovery ``I have been against raising the reserve target because my understanding is that the negative effects outweigh the effectiveness of increasing'' liquidity, she said. Suda, speaking to business executives earlier today, said she expects Japan's economy to extend its recovery as demand for semiconductors and other electronic devices picks up as companies end efforts to reduce inventory levels. Japan is showing signs of ending more than six years of deflation because core prices other than utilities are rising, she said.