Timely Rate Hike Sought at January BOJ Meeting
There was a call for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates "in a timely and appropriate manner" at its January 22-23 policy-setting meeting, a summary of opinions at the meeting showed Monday (February 2).
The summary also included a view that the BOJ "should not take too much time examining the impact of raising the policy interest rate" to 0.75 pct in December and "should proceed with the next step, a rate hike, without missing the appropriate timing."
According to the summary, a member of the BOJ Policy Board said, "Considering the recent depreciation of the yen, current financial conditions are still considerably accommodative relative to economic fundamental conditions."
A board member noted that "it has become more likely that exchange rate factors will push up prices."
To address the weak yen and rising long-term Japanese government bond yields, a member said that "the only prescription from the monetary policy side is to raise the policy interest rate in a timely and appropriate manner."
At the same time, a member pointed out that it is "necessary in exceptional circumstances to consider a flexible response, including purchases of JGBs."
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
