Discussions touch on desirable timing of BOJ exit * Govt decision on end to deflation would pave way for BOJ exit * Academic says BOJ should exit when inflation stable at 1-2% * Debate shows shift in policymakers' attention to rising wages (Adds comments from academics at meeting) By Leika Kihara and Kentaro Sugiyama TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - A meeting of the government's top economic council on Monday focused on whether recent rises in inflation and wage growth suggest Japan was approaching...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will likely see more financial tie-ups that extend beyond traditional boundaries similar to those signed between internet banking giant SBI Holdings Inc and regional banks, the country’s senior financial regulator said. Advances in financial technology could trigger structural changes in Japan’s banking industry by breaking barriers between lending and other services, said Teruhisa Kurita, who oversees bank supervision at the Financial Services Agency (FSA). “We’ll...

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), speaks at the Group of 20 (G-20) high-level seminar on financial innovation "Our Future in the Digital Age", on the sidelines of the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Fukuoka, Japan, on Saturday, June 8, 2019. Kiyoshi Ota/Pool via REUTERS FUKUOKA (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned on Saturday that the increasing presence of technology giants...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan must ramp up fiscal spending with debt bank-rolled by the central bank, the Bank of Japan’s former deputy governor Kikuo Iwata said, a controversial proposal that highlights the BOJ’s challenge as it tries to reignite an economy after years of sub-par growth. FILE PHOTO: Bank of Japan's (BOJ) Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata poses for a photo after an interview with Reuters at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo June 24, 2013. REUTERS/Toru Hanai Iwata, an architect of the BOJ’s...

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Japan’s central bank chief, Haruhiko Kuroda, said on Thursday that fintech companies could disrupt the banking system of advanced economies in a serious way. FILE PHOTO: Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a news conference at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo, Japan December 20, 2018. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS “We tend to think that these big tech companies are making a disruptive impact on the banking system,” Kuroda told the World...