BoJ's Muto: Conditions not met for policy shift

Muto said the central bank will need a new policy roadmap after ending so-called "quantitative easing" to enhance the transparency of its monetary policy.

Noting that the core consumer price index, a key monetary policy benchmark, rose for the second consecutive month in December after flattening in October, Muto said, "Despite this data it is still too early to say whether conditions have been met (for a policy shift)."

"We still need to continue monitoring possible changes in the situation," he told a news conference in Matsuyama, western Japan, where he was meeting local business leaders.

Muto said the BoJ needs to discuss a new policy guide after abandoning its ultra-easy policy, though he said it was still open to debate whether such a roadmap should be in the form of a numerical tool.

"I think it is important to have some sort of communication policy or a guide to communicate with the market. That's what I mean by a roadmap," Muto said.

"Whether that should be done in the form of a statement with forward-looking language or a numerical tool, that is something we need to discuss in the future."

"There are various issues to be considered, such as how to keep flexibility in conducting monetary policy. It is also hard to clearly decide what would be the level of an inflation rate that our monetary policy should aim for," Muto said.