Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Takaya Yamaguchi
Editing by Shri Navaratnam
Finance
Japan may intervene on yen again, BOJ should ditch easy policy – ex-financial diplomat
TOKYO, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Japan could intervene again to support the yen if it declines further, former top currency diplomat Takehiko Nakao told Reuters on Wednesday, and said the time is right for the Bank of Japan to ditch or modify its ultra-easy policy settings.
The former vice minister of finance for international affairs said prolonged monetary easing risks depreciating the yen further.
“There may be views that the intervention is not imminent as the depreciation has not been so rapid compared to the last time when authorities intervened in September/October,” he said.
“But it’s fully possible the authorities will conduct intervention in case the yen weakens further.”
Japan spent more than 9 trillion yen ($60.88 billion)intervening in currency markets last year to arrest the yen’s decline, buying yen in September and October – first at levels around 145 and again at a 32-year low just short of 152.
The yen is currently trading around 147.77 against the dollar.
Nakao, who served as top currency diplomat from August 2011 to March 2013, oversaw a heavy intervention in 2011 by buying the dollar to stem yen strength in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing, which made Japanese exports less competitive.
While the situation is reversed now with the yen sharply weaker, the benefits accruing to Japanese exports have been offset to some extent by the dramatic surge in prices of imports and the cost of living. The prolonged monetary easing has also been criticised by investors as distorting markets and hurting bank profits.
A weak yen is seen as a byproduct of Japan being the outlier of the global trend of monetary tightening. While the BOJ has continued powerful monetary stimulus, the Fed and other major central banks have raised interest rates to fight inflation.
At the two-day meeting ending on Friday, the BOJ is expected to maintain its yield curve control (YCC) targets at -0.1% for short-term interest rates and 0% for the 10-year bond yield.
Nakao, now chairman of the institute at Mizuho Research & Technologies and maintains close contact with incumbent policymakers, argued that the central bank should tweak its ultra-easy policy sooner rather than later.
“In the face of the ongoing headline inflation and excessively weak yen, the BOJ may have no choice but proceed with monetary policy normalization, including exit from negative rate policy and yield curve control, so as not to fall behind the curve,” he said.
“Given that JGB yields remain stable and the inflation is on the rise, now is the chance to tweak yield curve control.”
($1 = 147.7700 yen)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Finance
Finance Secretary Marasini seeks international funds for climate action
Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini has urged the Asian Development Bank and other multilateral development banks to prioritise financing for coordinated, focused, and tangible climate actions that complement current initiatives while maximising infrastructure projects that also contribute positively to climate objectives.
Marasini said Nepal’s focus is on aligning financing with the country’s current projects, improving infrastructure, and addressing climate change in an integrated manner.
“With political stability, Nepal stands at a pivotal juncture in its pursuit of economic growth and prosperity,” he said while addressing the 57th annual meetings of board of governors of the Asian Development Bank held in Tbilisi of Georgia. “The Government of Nepal is dedicated to ensuring good governance, social justice, and economic prosperity.”
He also said that Nepal’s efforts are directed towards achieving sustainable development goals, with equal emphasis on climate action, social inclusion, and economic development.
“To achieve our goals of economic prosperity, graduation from LDC status, and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, we face a significant funding gap that cannot be filled solely through public finance,” he said. “We need to address this sizeable financing gap by leveraging investments from private capital.”
The finance secretary informed the international community at the event about the third investment summit recently held in Kathmandu. He said the ADB can play a significant role in mobilising technical assistance and knowledge solutions to design attractive investment arrangements in sectors where Nepal has comparative advantage, such as tourism, hydropower, and information technology.
“Considering the huge financing needs and underlying fiscal challenges, I call upon the ADB and other development partners to substantially increase concessional resources,” Secretary Marasini said. “I believe Nepal’s home grown Green Resilient Inclusive Development (GRID) approach provides a partnership platform to all development partners to join hands in delivering development impact in necessary scale and speed.”
He also called for additional efforts for deeper economic integration to establish South Asia as an emerging region. “We now need to focus on enhancing connectivity, innovation, and digitalisation by leveraging our collective strength for the benefit of the entire region,” he added.
Finance
Genpact partners with Microsoft for finance transformation across enterprises – Times of India
This collaboration aims to combine Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service with Genpact’s extensive expertise to propel finance organizations into the future.The goal is to facilitate faster decision-making supported by a robust foundation of data and AI.
Balkrishan “BK” Kalra, President and CEO of Genpact, emphasized the company’s long-standing leadership in finance and accounting services, stating that the collaboration with Microsoft will usher in the next wave of finance transformation.
Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer at Microsoft, highlighted the transformative potential of AI in the finance industry, expressing excitement about partnering with Genpact to empower finance organizations to harness the power of data for business transformation.
Genpact is not only driving transformation for its clients but also modernizing its own finance function through extensive use of Microsoft’s AI tools. By harnessing the power of data, technology, and AI, Genpact has achieved significant improvements across various areas of finance:
- Enhanced vendor management automation with advanced AI algorithms, resulting in 85% accuracy in response and doubled supplier satisfaction.
- Transformed customer collections process with AI-powered analytics and automation, coupled with streamlining of invoice and payment tracking.
- Implemented a large language model-based digital assistant to streamline tax document submissions, leading to a 53% reduction in support tickets and improved employee experience.
This collaboration underscores Genpact’s commitment to AI innovation and its strategy of leveraging data, technology, AI, and strategic partnerships to drive outcomes for shareholders, clients, communities, and talent. For more information on Genpact’s partners and generative AI solutions, visit their website.
Finance
Strong Hong Kong dollar weighing on tourist spending: finance chief Paul Chan
“But the external environment remains complicated and there are a lot of uncertainties,” Chan said in his weekly blog. “The US Federal Reserve last week held interest rates steady. Coupled with stubborn inflation, the market expectation for a rate cut has weakened compared with earlier this year.”
He said the conditions could “bring adverse impacts to global economic recovery, Hong Kong’s exports, as well as the sentiment of local investment and capital markets”.
The Fed announced last week it was holding its benchmark lending rate steady in the 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent range as core inflation remained above the target of 2 per cent.
Chan said the city’s tourism sector was one of the key drivers of the economy in the first quarter, but warned of the drawbacks of a strengthening Hong Kong dollar, which is pegged to the US dollar.
The number of arrivals for the first three days of the Labour Day “golden week” holiday reached nearly 650,000, up by 25 per cent against last year’s figures, he said.
The break runs from May 1 to 5 on the mainland.
He said “changing consumption patterns among locals and tourists”, coupled with the strong Hong Kong dollar, could hit the retailing and catering sectors in particular.
Chan urged companies to develop new products and to embrace technology.
“New products can not only meet the changing needs of consumers, but also create demand and thus boost sales,” he said. “As for new ways of management, companies can lower costs and enhance efficiency by adopting more digital solutions.”
Chan was attending the annual meeting of the board of governors of the Asian Development Bank in Tbilisi, Georgia, which is themed “From Billions to Trillions – Promoting Private Sector Development for Climate Change”.
He said many participants were interested in the development of Hong Kong’s digital economy, as well as the innovation and technology sector.
Chan said at the plenary session a huge funding gap of trillions of US dollars existed for climate and transition investments, as well as in helping developed and developing economies in climate financing.
He urged members to work together to mobilise private sector resources and channel funds to support green and climate transition projects through innovative financial products and services.
In his weekly blog post, Chan also noted Hong Kong’s gross domestic product had increased for five consecutive quarters, expanding 2.7 per cent year-on-year in the first three months of the year.
The city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index also gained almost 14 per cent recently, while the property market had become more active after authorities scrapped cooling measures in February.
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