Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took to the links to slam critics who call his attempts to get the country out of deflation too aggressive, likening the previous administration's failed attempts to stop chronic price falls to a timid golfer.
"You'll never hit the ball out of the bunker if you use a putter because you're scared of the cliffs beyond the green," the avid golfer said in a parliamentary debate Monday, firing back at the incremental, some would say overly-cautious approach to monetary policy that the former Democratic Party of Japan-led government adopted."That's why we are using a sand wedge to get the ball on the green. And the ball will hit the green. There's no other way to put it there," Mr. Abe said, explaining how the aggressive monetary policy the Bank of Japan8301.TO -0.90% launched in April is producing positive effects on the economy and the financial markets.
Mr. Abe was responding to criticism by former economy minister Seiji Maehara that the central bank's 2.0% inflation target would produce the side effects such as making an exit to its radical easing difficult and causing "cost-driven inflation" through a rise in imported energy and food prices.
Mr. Maehara said it's unclear whether the ball will land on the green, warning "it's would be terrible for (Japan) to fall off a cliff."
Mr. Abe said the golf analogy came from his economic adviser, Yale University economics professor Koichi Hamada. When BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda announced that the central bank would be embarking on easing of an unprecedented scale six month ago, Mr. Hamada told JRT that the BOJ has a leader who is aiming straight for the green, instead of just laying up.
Source: NewsOnJapan
Mr. Abe was responding to criticism by former economy minister Seiji Maehara that the central bank's 2.0% inflation target would produce the side effects such as making an exit to its radical easing difficult and causing "cost-driven inflation" through a rise in imported energy and food prices.
Mr. Maehara said it's unclear whether the ball will land on the green, warning "it's would be terrible for (Japan) to fall off a cliff."
Mr. Abe said the golf analogy came from his economic adviser, Yale University economics professor Koichi Hamada. When BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda announced that the central bank would be embarking on easing of an unprecedented scale six month ago, Mr. Hamada told JRT that the BOJ has a leader who is aiming straight for the green, instead of just laying up.
Source: NewsOnJapan
