At its October policy meeting, the BOJ left the policy rate unchanged at 1.25%, while some participants expressed the view that the next rate hike should be implemented "when conditions permit." The meeting also indicated that underlying inflation was consistent with the 2% level.
The BOJ released the main views from its Monetary Policy Meeting held on 29–30 October, reporting that some participants said the next rate hike should be implemented "when conditions permit." The policy rate remained unchanged at 1.25% after the meeting, and underlying inflation was assessed as broadly consistent with the 2% target.
Some participants called for a faster pace of movement toward the current neutral rate, while others said decisions should be made cautiously by assessing the degree of monetary accommodation, including future wage trends. With next year's shunto negotiations in mind, the possibility that wage increases could be consistent with the 2% target was also mentioned.
Some participants placed importance on the relationship between underlying inflation stability and wage trends, saying they would closely monitor whether future wage increases would be consistent with the 2% target. Some also expressed the view that the BOJ should move quickly toward the neutral rate over the longer term, while opinions favoring a cautious stance in the short term coexisted.
The October meeting also decided to revise the pace of ETF sales, with a plan to increase annual sales to approximately ¥860 billion from January 2026. As a result, the estimated period for completing the sales is expected to shorten from approximately 112 years to approximately 43 years.