BOJ Members Agree on Need to Continue Raising Rates, Minutes Show

Reuters

10:27 JST, January 28, 2026

TOKYO, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Bank of Japan policymakers agreed on the need to keep raising interest rates, with some emphasizing the role of a weak yen on underlying inflation and the timing of the next interest rate hike, minutes of their December meeting showed on Wednesday.

The remarks highlight the board’s readiness to continue pushing up still-low borrowing costs even after its decision in December to raise the policy rate to a 30-year high of 0.75%.

“Given current very low real interest rates, members agreed it was appropriate to continue raising interest rates if their economic and price forecasts materialize,” the minutes showed.

“Although addressing currency market moves is not itself the purpose of monetary policy, the BOJ should give consideration to the impact of the yen’s slide on inflation rates, and in some cases, underlying inflation, in deciding whether to raise the policy rate,” the minutes quoted some members as saying.

One member said the yen’s fall and rising long-term interest rates were partly due to the BOJ’s policy rate being too low relative to the rate of inflation, the minutes said.

“Raising the policy rate in a timely manner could curb future inflationary pressure and hold down long-term rates,” the member was quoted as saying.