The central government may tweak a reference to monetary policy in its annual policy agenda to avoid giving the appearance it is putting pressure on the central bank, the Asahi newspaper reported.

A draft of the government¡¯s economic and fiscal agenda for the coming year ¡ª its so-called honebuto ¡ª originally said the ¡°appropriate conduct¡± of monetary policy was ¡°very important,¡± an assertion that some interpreted as a hint meant to dissuade the Bank of Japan from further rate hikes.

The latest draft adds a reference to inflation, calling for appropriate monetary policy that contributes to stable price increases, the Asahi reported. The change to the text reflects concerns that some financial market participants had misunderstood the original version, the report said, citing an unnamed government official. The report doesn¡¯t indicate whether the phrase ¡°very important¡± will be changed.

The draft of the agenda is seen as a key driver for yen weakness and pushing bond yields higher due to market concerns over the Takaichi government delaying further rate hikes. The final version of the policy agenda will be released later this month.

The yen was trading around ?162.30 against the dollar Wednesday morning in Tokyo, not far from its weakest level in 40 years, at ?162.84, touched last week.

This policy blueprint also includes a plan to create a multiyear framework to finance policies aimed at boosting the nation¡¯s growth potential as part of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi¡¯s overhaul of the country¡¯s budgeting process.

Takaichi replaced two outgoing BOJ board members with economists known to favor reflationist policies. The first newcomer, Toichiro Asada, was the lone dissenter to last month¡¯s board decision to raise the benchmark rate to 1%, the highest in 31 years. Asada warned in an interview with the Sankei newspaper that raising rates could lead to an economic slowdown.

The second appointee, Ayano Sato, will attend her first board meeting at the end of this month.