物価目標実現、着実に歩み　ＥＴＦ購入も修正判断―中川日銀審議委員

　日銀の中川順子審議委員は７日、松江市で講演し、「２％の物価安定目標の実現に向けて着実に歩を進めている」との見方を示した。目標実現が見通せる状況になれば、マイナス金利政策の解除とともに、長短金利操作や上場投資信託（ＥＴＦ）の買い入れなどについても「修正要否について判断する」と説明した。
　市場では日銀が１８、１９両日の金融政策決定会合でマイナス金利解除に踏み切るとの観測が出ている。中川氏は政策修正の判断材料となる今春闘での賃上げ動向について、「過去対比で高めの水準で着地する蓋然（がいぜん）性が高まっている」と指摘。その上で「高水準の企業収益に支えられ、賃金と物価の好循環が展望できる」と述べた。（2024/03/07-12:01）

A Bank of Japan policymaker said Thursday that the central bank is "steadily" moving toward achieving its consumer inflation target of 2 pct.
   If the likelihood of attaining the target increases, the BOJ will examine whether to lift its negative interest rate policy and whether to make modification regarding its yield curve control program and its purchases of exchange-traded funds, Junko Nakagawa, a member of the BOJ's nine-member Policy Board, said in a speech in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, western Japan.
   There has been speculation that the BOJ will decide to lift the negative rate policy at its next policymaking meeting on March 18-19. Under the policy, the BOJ sets an interest rate of minus 0.1 pct on part of commercial financial institutions' current account deposits at the central bank.
   The possibility is growing that the level of wage hikes in this year's ongoing "shunto" labor-management negotiations will be higher than in the past, Nakagawa said, pointing to the high likelihood of Japan realizing a virtuous cycle of higher wages and prices on the back of robust corporate earnings.
   Pay hike trends in the 2024 shunto are believed to be a major factor for the BOJ to decide whether to modify its ultraeasy monetary policy.