The US dollar came off its morning lows in late Asian trading after comments by a Japanese policy maker increased doubts that the Bank of Japan will announce tomorrow a change in its ultra-easy monetary policy, dealers said At 4.17 pm (0817 GMT) here, the dollar was at 117.67 yen, up from 117.53 yen in Tokyo just over five hours earlier. The euro was at 1.1910 usd, up from 1.1884 usd in Tokyo The Bank of Japan's policy board started its two-day meeting today, and while there have been no hints as to what decision it will announce tomorrow, the market has been positioning for an end to the central bank's present policy in recent sessions by driving the yen higher -- a trend which continued this morning here Those bets were pared back after a senior policy maker of Japan's governing party said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi thinks that the economy has not yet escaped from deflation Hidenao Nakagawa, who chairs the policy research council at the Liberal Democratic Party, also told reporters that the central bank should adopt a clear guideline "that is easy to understand", such as setting an inflation target or a price reference These comments by Nakagawa were seen as an indication that the government is not in favor of changing monetary policy yet Most analysts also still believe the Bank of Japan will wait until April before it makes its policy shift, and have warned that yen positions are vulnerable to the downside should the central bank keep the status quo tomorrow The key event in Asia tomorrow will be the Bank of Japan's policy decision, expected before noon (0300 GMT) in Tokyo. Before that, the market will probably remain on edge, keeping major currency pairs within familiar ranges, dealers said.