The Bank of Japan kept the policy rate at 1.25% and said it recognized that the core commitment underpinning its long-running ultra-loose policy had been fulfilled. It declared for the first time that inflation was broadly consistent with the 2% target.
The Bank of Japan decided by an 8–1 vote to keep the policy rate at 1.25%. The sole dissent came from Board Member Takata Hajime (高田 創), who called for a faster move toward a neutral policy stance, but the majority chose to keep rates unchanged.
After announcing the decision, the Bank of Japan said it would double the annual pace of ETF sales to approximately ¥860 billion on a book-value basis. This is equivalent to approximately ¥2.46 trillion on a market-value basis, while J-REIT sales would remain unchanged at approximately ¥5 billion annually.
As inflation-related indicators, September core CPI rose 2.1% year on year, its fastest pace since last year, while underlying inflation reached 2.4%. Wage data showed real wages rising 1.5% year on year in August, marking an eighth consecutive monthly increase and indicating signs of wage-led price growth.