Some BOJ members signal rate hikes if tariff concerns ease: minutes
In the meeting, the BOJ maintained its policy rate at around 0.5 percent, citing the "extremely uncertain" impact of higher U.S. tariffs that Japan was negotiating to reduce.
At the June 16-17 meeting, a few members expressed the view that the central bank "would likely move on from its current wait-and-see approach and consider resuming the process of policy interest rate hikes, if trade friction was expected to progress without escalation," the minutes said.
With the BOJ standing pat at its meeting last week, held after Japan and the United States reached a trade agreement, the focus is on whether the central bank will raise the policy rate at its next gathering in September.
In June, one member said the central bank needed to be able to respond flexibly so it can return to raising rates depending on policy developments in the United States.
Another member warned that "extremely high uncertainties" remained over the outlook for Japanese economic activity, with risks still skewed to the downside, and it would "take some time" to assess future trends in corporate profits and the direction of the U.S.-Japan trade talks.
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