No 'bazooka' BOJ easing at Sept meeting: ex-BOJ Momma

By Leika Kihara

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan is likely to refrain from expanding government bond purchases or deepening negative interest rates this month as economic conditions have improved since it eased at its previous meeting in July, a former senior central bank executive said on Tuesday.

"The BOJ will look at not just the merits but the costs of its policies at this month's comprehensive assessment. That makes the hurdle for topping up bond buying or deepening negative rates higher," said Kazuo Momma, who oversaw the central bank's monetary policy drafting and international affairs until May.

The central bank may consider "making some adjustments" to its risky asset purchases if it feels it needs to do something to appease market players betting on bold action, Momma said.

"Even so, it won't be a 'bazooka 3' that greatly pushes forward the timing for achieving 2 percent inflation," he told Reuters.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

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