Overview
- The Bank of Japan released the December 18–19 Summary of Opinions, confirming policy is still well below neutral and pointing to additional tightening.
- One policy board member urged increases roughly every few months, while others favored assessing conditions at each meeting rather than pre‑committing.
- Members noted real rates would remain deeply negative even if the policy rate rose to 0.75%, underscoring distance from a neutral stance.
- Several officials linked Japan’s very low real policy rate to yen weakness and upward pressure on long‑term government bond yields.
- Stronger corporate profits and sustained wage gains were cited as supporting inflation’s progress toward 2%, and the yen traded higher following the publication, with detailed minutes expected in the coming weeks.