By Leika Kihara
TOKYO, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Some Bank of Japan policymakers saw the need to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes or bring them closer to the central bank’s “goal” soon, a summary of opinions at its September meeting showed on Thursday.
Most of the opinions cited the need for followthrough of September’s rate hike with further increases in borrowing costs as inflationary pressure mounts.
“If signs of an upward deviation in prices are observed, the Bank will need to accelerate the pace of rate hikes,” one member was quoted as saying.
“It is desirable for the Bank to bring the policy interest rate closer to the approximate goal relatively soon” to allow it scope to respond to unexpected developments in the economy, another opinion showed.
Several opinions also pointed out that underlying inflation had reached, or was close to hitting, the BOJ’s target of 2%.
One said while the BOJ did not need to take hasty action, it should raise rates to prevent excessive and persistent price rises with underlying inflation seen reaching 2% before long.
At its September meet, the BOJ raised interest rates to a 31-year high, with the central bank’s governor signalling a new phase focused on keeping inflation from overshooting its target, opening the door to further rate hikes.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Clarence Fernandez)
