Kazuo Ueda’s mission to dismantle the cumbersome legacy of his predecessor is advancing more rapidly than seemed likely when he took the helm of the Bank of Japan six months ago. The progress has come at significant cost, not least the credibility of its communications. Officials stick to the line that policy is only being tweaked, when key parts of the BOJ’s entire approach to setting borrowing costs are being removed or watered down to the point where they are greatly diminished.

Laudable steps to make policy a little less loose are being tarnished in significant ways. The BOJ’s approach to conveying its intentions has been woeful, bordering on negligent. Policy shifts come across as being too reactive. Markets increasingly look like they are dictating the pace at which the bank allows long-term market interest rates to increase. On Tuesday, Ueda further loosened his grip on 10-year yields, relegating the prior ceiling of 1%, imposed in July, to a “reference point.” The BOJ also retreated from unlimited purchases of government debt. The changes, partially flagged hours earlier in the Nikkei newspaper, follow a climb in yields that approached the 1% threshold without breaching it.