By Leika Kihara
TOKYO (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday the central bank will pursue the most appropriate yield curve to achieve its 2 percent inflation target.
He also said the central bank is ready to ease policy further by cutting its short- and long-term interest rate targets, or expanding risky asset purchases.
If necessary, the BOJ can also choose to expand the monetary base faster, Kuroda said.
"Our new framework centered on yield curve control can respond to (economic) situations more flexibly compared with our past framework. As a result, our policies become more sustainable," Kuroda said in a speech at an annual meeting of securities firms.
Kuroda said he did not see signs of excessive risk-taking or overheating in financial activity as a result of the central bank's ultra-loose monetary policy.
"At present, we don't see any big problem in Japan's financial system stability," he said.
At its rate review last week, the BOJ switched its policy target to interest rates from the pace of money printing, after years of massive asset purchases failed to jolt the economy out of decades-long stagnation.
Under a new "yield curve control" (YCC) framework, the BOJ pledged to keep the 10-year bond yield around zero percent. It also maintained a policy of charging a 0.1 percent interest on a portion of excess reserves financial institutions park with the central bank.