At a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Bank of Japan Governor Ueda Kazuo (植田 和男) reiterated his intention to continue raising interest rates without tolerating a further rise in underlying inflation. He said the Bank would place greater importance on keeping underlying inflation stable at around 2%.
Bank of Japan Governor Ueda Kazuo (植田 和男) said at a press conference that a further rise in the underlying inflation rate, excluding temporary factors, could not be tolerated, once again making clear his stance of raising the policy rate. He said that, based on the current outlook, underlying inflation had come quite close to the 2% price stability target, and that from now on it would be more important than before to keep it stable at around 2%.
At a press conference after completing a G20-related trip, the governor said that data on the Japanese economy since the September Monetary Policy Meeting had been “generally moving in line with our outlook.” He said that although he had exchanged views with officials from various countries during the trip, he had not obtained any information that contradicted his assessment.
He said the Bank planned to discuss and reach a conclusion at the Monetary Policy Meeting on 29 and 30 October on whether underlying inflation had reached 2%, adding that the treatment of the Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices was also expected to be a focus of the meeting. He said there was no clear evidence on the level of the neutral interest rate, and explained that future decisions would be made based on the outlook for economic activity and prices and financial conditions.