The Bank of Japan (BoJ) published the Summary of Opinions from the April monetary policy meeting, with the key findings noted below.
Key quotes
One member states real interest rates low enough to support further policy rate hikes.
BOJ member says bank may need to tackle risk of rising price deviations.
One member said impact of Middle East situation hard to predict, bank to take wait-and-see stance at meeting.
One member said a policy rate increase focused on controlling inflation is likely to harm economic progress at this stage.
Rate hike likely from next meeting despite uncertain Middle East outlook.
One BoJ member signals no rush to act now but favors rate hike soon barring clear economic slowdown.
One member says Japan’s real policy interest rate is by far the lowest globally, BoJ must continue adjusting negative real rate ahead of second-round effects. One member said BoJ must prevent significant risk of inflation rising sharply in conducting monetary policy.
One member said policy rate remains below neutral, so BOJ must keep raising rates every few months.
One member said if upside risks to prices rise, BoJ must speed up rate hikes without delay.
One member said prolonged Middle East tensions could prompt earlier policy rate increase to neutral level.
One member said Middle East situation remains uncertain, all scenarios indicate greater upside risks to price .
One member warns supply-side constraints could cause sharp price surges.
Market reaction
Following the BoJ’s Summary of Opinions, the USD/JPY pair is up 0.36% on the day to trade at 157.25 as of writing.
