Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said Friday he will not rule out lowering the BOJ's benchmark interest rate from the current 0.5 percent amid the slowing economy.
"We will manage monetary policies without the assumption of either raising or lowering" the rate, Shirakawa said in a media interview.
His remark suggests the BOJ, which considers the current rate too low and wants to "normalize" it in the long run, will not hesitate to cut the rate if necessary.
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