Japan: BOJ Summary of Opinions from June MPM: Two Members Call for an Acceleration in the Pace of Rate Hikes

Research evidence excerpt

Japan: BOJ Summary of Opinions from June MPM: Two Members Call for an Acceleration in the Pace of Rate Hikes

Economics Research

24 June 2026 | 10:45AM JST

Japan: BOJ Summary of Opinions from June MPM: Two Members Call

for an Acceleration in the Pace of Rate Hikes

BOTTOM LINE: The Summary of Opinions from the June Monetary Policy Meeting Akira Otani

+81(3)4587-9960 | akira.otani@gs.com

(MPM) showed that two board members expressed opinions calling for an Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.

acceleration in the pace of rate hikes. While these opinions are in the minority at

present, the extent to which they will spread to other members going forward will

likely depend on future assessments regarding the risk of underlying inflation

exceeding 2 percent.

MAIN POINTS

n On June 24, the BOJ released the Summary of Opinions from its June Monetary

Policy Meeting, where it decided to raise the policy interest rate to 1% and to halt

the reduction of its Japanese government bond (JGB) purchase amount from the

next fiscal year onward.

n Regarding monetary policy, there was an opinion which we think came from

board member Toichiro Asada, who opposed the rate hike (“Raising the policy

interest rate could suppress aggregate demand by curbing firms’ business fixed

investment, potentially inducing simultaneous declines in inflation and in

production and employment. The Bank should therefore hold the rate steady at

this point.”). However, other opinions supported the rate hike, citing that

downside risks to the economy have decreased and there is a risk that underlying

CPI inflation will deviate upward to a level above 2 percent.

n As for the future pace of rate hikes, there were opinions from two members

calling for an acceleration in the pace, such as, “It is necessary to bring the policy