BOJ's December Rate Hike Reflected Concerns over Weak Yen

Tokyo, Jan. 28 (Jiji Press)--The Bank of Japan's decision at a monetary policy meeting in December to raise its policy rate to 0.75 pct reflected concerns over higher inflation stemming from a weak yen, according to the minutes of the meeting released on Wednesday.

A member of the central bank's Policy Board said at the Dec. 18-19 meeting that Japan's inflation-adjusted real policy interest rate was "by far at the lowest level globally," according to the minutes.

The official said that it was appropriate for the BOJ to adjust the degree of monetary accommodation, "considering the impact such a low real policy interest rate had on prices through foreign exchange markets."

At the meeting, the board voted unanimously to raise the policy rate by 0.25 percentage point to 0.75 pct, a 30-year high.

The minutes showed that most board members said that it was "desirable...to make decisions as appropriate at each monetary policy meeting without having a specific pace in mind."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]