A comprehensive review of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy that Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda promised at its Sept. 20-21 policy board meeting has led to various speculation over the central bank's next move as well as discussions about pros and cons of the "unprecedented" monetary stimulus pursued by Kuroda since 2013 and the negative interest rate policy it introduced in February. Some media reports suggest that the BOJ plans to conclude that the policy to charge banks fees for keeping their money in their central bank accounts had benefits for the economy that outweigh the costs. Kuroda himself has also indicated that he does not have in mind scaling back the monetary stimulus as a result of the policy review.

The policy review should not be an occasion to justify further easing by the central bank to achieve its target of a 2 percent annual inflation at all costs, but an opportunity for objective assessment of what it has done to the economy — both good and bad — and change course where necessary.

Despite more than three years of Kuroda's monetary "bazooka" as a key component of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's trademark economic policy, Japan's economic growth remains uneven and fragile, and the 2 percent inflation — which the central bank was initially confident of achieving within two years — is still nowhere in sight and keeps being pushed back. The central bank needs to start by realizing that its policy is no magic wand to save the economy from all its troubles.