BOJ board stresses need to keep easy policy on weak inflation

Tokyo

BANK of Japan (BOJ) policymakers see the need to maintain ultra-easy policy as inflation is rising only modestly and wage growth remains feeble, a summary of opinions from their October meeting showed on Monday (Nov 8).

The nine-member board also sounded sanguine about recent yen declines, with one member saying it reflected the differentials in the inflation and monetary policy stances between Japan and other countries.

Supply constraints and rising global commodity costs have pushed up inflation across the globe, prodding some central banks to raise interest rates or ponder withdrawing stimulus.

While rising energy and food costs are pushing up prices in Japan, inflation remains well below the BOJ's 2 per cent target as weak consumption discourages firms from passing on higher costs to households.

The BOJ board also discussed recent yen declines, with one member saying the impact could vary depending on company size and sector, the summary showed.

At the Oct 27-28 meeting, the BOJ kept policy steady and retained its view that the economy was headed for a moderate recovery as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic begins to subside. REUTERS