(Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund said the Bank of Japan’s surprise decision to double the cap on benchmark bond yields is a sensible step, while calling on policymakers to clearly communicate adjustments. 

The BOJ shocked global markets Tuesday, saying it will allow 10-year yields to rise to around 0.5% from a previous 0.25% cap. The measure may herald the beginning of a pivot by the last devotee to ultra-easy monetary policy.

“With uncertainty around the inflation outlook, the Bank of Japan’s adjustment of yield curve control settings is a sensible step including given concerns about bond market functioning,” Ranil Salgado, the IMF’s mission chief to Japan, said in a statement. 

“Providing clearer communications on the conditions for adjusting the monetary policy framework would help anchor market expectations and strengthen the credibility of the Bank of Japan’s commitment to achieve its inflation target,” he said.

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The immediate fallout of the BOJ’s move was seen across markets including US stock futures, the Australian dollar and gold, and reverberations are expected to be felt for weeks. 

While BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said at a briefing in Tokyo that the move was intended to make yield-curve control more sustainable, it was also read as a step toward possible policy normalization under the next governor, given Kuroda is due to step down in April.

Speculation of some sort of change had been rumored earlier this week, after Kyodo reported that the government was planning to revise a key inflation-focused accord with the central bank. 

But the market was still caught flat-footed, particularly as Kuroda had insisted wage growth wasn’t strong enough to ensure that Japan’s inflation would be sustainable, a key condition for justifying any policy shift.

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