At an international conference attended by central banks, BOJ Deputy Governor Uchida (内田) said AI appears to be working to ease financial conditions. He pointed out that while AI is pushing up demand and prices, increased bond issuance by related companies is pushing up long-term interest rates, meaning AI has effects on financial conditions in both directions.
In his opening remarks at an international conference on economic analysis using AI and big data, BOJ Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida (内田眞一) said AI appears to be working to ease financial conditions. He said AI had been identified as a large positive demand shock that was pushing up the economy and prices.
He explained, however, that large-scale bond issuance by AI-related companies was contributing to higher long-term interest rates and also working to tighten financial conditions. Taking these factors together, he said it provisionally appeared that AI was working to ease financial conditions overall.
The BOJ views rising demand related to AI, along with exchange-rate movements such as worsening conditions in the Middle East and yen depreciation, as one of the factors pushing prices higher than expected. The rate hike to 1.25% at last month's Monetary Policy Meeting was also mentioned.
With another meeting scheduled for this month, Deputy Governor Uchida (内田) said the BOJ is assessing the economy as a whole, including areas that have been relatively unaffected by AI.