BOJ's next move is to dial back stimulus - Reuters poll

According to the latest Reuters poll, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is expected to roll back its massive stimulus, as its next monetary policy move amid receding expectations of further monetary policy easing.

The BOJ is set to keep monetary policy steady this week.

Key Findings:

Twenty-five of 41 economists, or 61% of the total, expect the BOJ’s next move to be a withdrawal of stimulus, the poll taken between Dec. 4-16 showed. That was up from 44% in a survey in November.

Most of them say it could happen in 2021 or later.

Sixteen of the economists, or 39%, think the BOJ will top up stimulus as its next step, down from 56% in last month’s survey.

The world’s third-largest economy is forecast to have shrunk by an annualised 3.2% in the fourth quarter, which would be the biggest contraction since April-June 2014.

Growth will rebound by 0.9% and 1.2% in the first and second quarters of 2020.

The economy will expand 0.9% in the current fiscal year ending in March 2020 before slowing to 0.5% the following year, the poll predicted.