BOJ will revise stimulus if achieving price goal in sight
Even after ending negative rates, BOJ won39;t hike rates rapidly
If price goal achieved, 39;natural39; to end risky asset buying
BOJ won39;t sharply reduce bond buying even when ending YCC
Remarks heighten chance of policy tweak by April

NARA, Japan, Feb 8 Reuters The Bank of Japan will likely end its risky asset purchases but avoid raising interest rates rapidly when scaling back monetary support, Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said in the strongest hint to date that an end to its massive stimulus was nearing.

Servicesector prices are rising as more companies hike wages and pass on rising labour costs, Uchida said, signalling his growing conviction that conditions for phasing out stimulus were falling into place.

If sustainable and stable achievement of our 2 inflation target comes in sight, the largescale monetary easing will have fulfilled its role and we39;ll explore whether it should be revised, Uchida said in a closelywatched speech in Nara, western Japan, on Thursday.

Ending negative interest rates, a move markets expect to happen either in March or April, would be equivalent to hiking shortterm interest rates by 0.1 percentage point, he said.

Even if the BOJ were to end our negative interest rate policy, it39;s hard to imagine a path in which it would then keep raising the interest rate rapidly, Uchida said.

The remarks by Uchida, which were closely watched by markets due to his record of…