The minutes of the Bank of Japan's September monetary policy meeting showed that one policy board member had pointed out that the Bank had entered a new phase requiring discussion of the size of rate hikes. The minutes suggest that many members were aware of upside risks to inflation and supported an acceleration in the pace of rate hikes.
The minutes of the Bank of Japan's September monetary policy meeting, released on the 5th, showed that one policy board member had expressed the view that the Bank had entered a new phase requiring discussion of the size of rate hikes.
It was found that most other members shared an awareness of the risk that inflation could rise above the Bank's 2% target.
At the meeting, the policy rate was raised by 0.25 percentage points to around 1.25%. This was the first rate hike since the June meeting, accelerating the pace from approximately once every six months. 2 members opposed the decision.
The release of the minutes suggests that the focus of future monetary policy discussions may shift to the appropriateness of the size of rate hikes and the pace going forward.