18.06.202022:00:00UTC+00Bank Of Japan Minutes On Tap For Friday

The Bank of Japan will on Friday release the minutes from its emergency monetary policy meeting on May 22, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

At the meeting, the BoJ introduced a new lending program to help small and medium-sized firms and left its target for short-term interest rate and the bond yield target unchanged. The board unanimously decided to launch a lending scheme worth about JPY 30 trillion to support SMEs struggling amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Japan also will see nationwide May figures for consumer prices; in April, overall inflation was up 0.1 percent on year and down 0.2 on month, while core CPI was down 0.2 percent on year.

Taiwan will provide May numbers for export orders, with forecasts suggesting a 1.1 percent increase on year following the 2.3 percent decline in April.