Bank of Japan's Haruhiko Kuroda bows out after decade of shock and awe

Haruhiko Kuroda took a slightly less dovish tack in his farewell as Japan’s central bank chief on Friday, ending a decade of unconventional policy that included a “bazooka” of stimulus aimed at boosting inflation and sustainable growth.

Handing the reins of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to academic Kazuo Ueda, Kuroda pointed to progress under his radical easy-money policy, which featured a push to change public perceptions with a wall of money and Peter Pan metaphors. “Japan’s 15 years of deflation has created a strong perception among the public that prices and wages won't rise,” Kuroda, 78, told a news conference.

“But such a perception, or norm, is starting to change. As such, I think the timing for achieving the BoJ’s inflation target stably and sustainably is nearing,” he said. Kuroda said it was “quite possible” for the BoJ to exit its monetary easing without upending the banking system. Shock therapy was among key features of Kuroda’s monetary experiment.

When then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chose him in 2013, Kuroda led the BoJ in deploying a huge asset-buying programme, partly to convince the public that prices would finally start to rise after decades of deflation.