Economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano downplayed criticism Tuesday within the government over the Bank of Japan's plan to explore an end to its ultra-loose monetary policy.
"The BOJ has set three conditions for lifting the quantitative monetary easing policy, and the third condition requires the central bank to judge the timing of a policy shift by scrutinizing the overall economic situation, not only numerical data," Yosano said at a news conference.
"I believe the BOJ will make a decision in such a large context," he said.