With inflation exceeding 2% for more than a year, markets are rife with speculation the BOJ will raise short-term interest rates from the current -0.1% as early as the end of this year.
Ending negative interest rates likely won't hurt the economy much as inflation-adjusted real borrowing costs will remain low, said Sakurai, a former BOJ board member who retains close ties with incumbent policymakers.
"Ending negative rates will be largely a symbolic move, but the BOJ probably wants to time it very carefully," Sakurai said.
Even if the central bank were to end negative rates, it will likely describe the move as a modest adjustment to the degree of monetary stimulus, he said.
In July, it raised a hard cap for the 10-year yield to 1.0% from 0.5% to allow long-term interest rates to rise more freely reflecting higher inflation.
Persons:
Issei Kato, BOJ Sakurai, Sakurai, Sakurai TOKYO, Makoto Sakurai, Leika, Shri Navaratnam
Organizations:
Bank of Japan, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
Tokyo, Japan