BOJ official says not trying to send message that it has done enough

TOKYO The Bank of Japan’s new monetary policy framework should not be taken as a message that the BOJ feels it is done with easing and wants fiscal policy to pick up the slack, a senior Bank of Japan official said on Monday.

The new policy framework has strengthened the BOJ’s commitment to meeting its 2 percent inflation target, Tomoyuki Shimoda, deputy director-general at the BOJ’s Monetary Affairs Department, told a seminar.

Last week the BOJ switched its monetary policy to target short- and long-term interest rates, from increasing the monetary base, due to concerns its old policy framework was not sustainable.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Stanley White- Editing by Chris Gallagher)