BOJ Shifts Focus to Preventing Excessive Inflation

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has shifted its policy focus to preventing inflation from exceeding its target, according to a summary of opinions from last month's policy meeting.

The BOJ raised its policy rate to 1.25% in September, the highest since 1995, after 13 years of trying to gradually lift price growth toward the 2% target.

One member noted that authorities had entered a new phase of policymaking aimed at keeping inflation from exceeding the 2% target, while another member cited the need to conduct policy to avoid excessive inflation.

The summary appears consistently hawkish, with members noting that the neutral rate could deviate above the estimate and many firms seeing only limited impact of hikes taken so far.