Dollar/yen strengthens following BoJ minutes

The Japanese yen weakened on Monday afternoon after the minutes of the Bank of Japan's last policy meeting revealed policy-makers were split about the costs and benefits of employing negative interest rates.

Some of the nine members of the monetary authority's board said the January decision to impose negative interest rates on a portion of the lenders' reserves held on deposit at the central bank had led to increased “anxiety among financial institutions and depositors” and made the BoJ's policy difficult to understand.

It had also made volatility in markets worse and created “excessive expectations for further monetary easing.”

As of 12:29 BST US dollar/yen was trading 0.82% higher to 108.00.