Bank of Japan chief Kazuo Ueda said Tuesday the central bank will further reduce monetary stimulus if the country's basic inflation rate nears 2 percent as expected.

Ueda told a parliamentary session that the BOJ will examine upcoming data to confirm the strength of wage growth in line with the outcomes of labor-management negotiations this spring, and whether services prices will rise to achieve stable inflation.

Ueda also said the BOJ's monetary policy is not designed to "control" foreign exchange rates, but that a policy change would not be ruled out if the impact of currency moves on the economy cannot be ignored.

==Kyodo

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