Kuroda's Former Deputy Ito Says Japan Can Endure Stronger Yen
- Ito says yen isn't a big problem unless it heads to 110
- Level at 120-125 per dollar would be a comfortable range
Takatoshi Ito.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
While Japan has breathing space before the yen’s gains become a serious problem for the economy, policy makers are unlikely to stand by should it climb too fast or if key inflation measures slump, according to Takatoshi Ito, a former colleague of central bank chief Haruhiko Kuroda.
The yen trading at around 120 to 125 per dollar would be “a comfortable range” for Japan, Ito, a professor at Columbia University who was a deputy to Kuroda at the Ministry of Finance in 1999 and 2000, said in a Jan. 9 interview in Tokyo. “Unless the yen goes to 115 from 117, and heads on to 110, it isn’t that serious.”