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Kuroda Says Bank of Japan Will Be Prepared to Act on Coronavirus

Kuroda Says Bank of Japan Will Be Prepared to Act on Coronavirus

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the monetary policy authority will be “well-prepared” to act when needed to address the impact of the coronovirus on the economy.

“We will monitor the impact of the coronavirus on the economy, inflation and financial markets with maximum attention,” Kuroda told reporters on Sunday in Riyadh, where he is attending a Group of 20 meeting. “We will continue to gather information by attending international meetings like the G-20 and we will be well-prepared to act when we need to act.”

Kuroda Says Bank of Japan Will Be Prepared to Act on Coronavirus

The yen retreated to a 10-month low against the dollar last week as the spread of the coronavirus compounded concerns about the state of the Japanese economy, which last quarter suffered the biggest contraction since 2014.

Kuroda said he doesn’t expect a “big delay” in the recovery of the Japanese economy for now. The BOJ is not at a stage to discuss the specifics of a potential monetary policy response, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Toru Fujioka in Tokyo at tfujioka1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Cagan Koc, Paul Abelsky

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