The Bank of Japan on Thursday released notes from its last policy meeting at the end of July that show members discussed further interest rate hikes.
Some members of the bank’s policy board advocated for raising rates “in a timely and gradual manner.”
The central bank increased its key interest rate to around 0.25 percent at the meeting. BOJ Governor Ueda Kazuo also indicated further hikes were possible.
The Summary of Opinions report shows many policymakers see an interest rate of 0.25 percent as still effectively at a monetary easing level.
Several members said, “the Bank should raise the policy interest rate to the level of the neutral interest rate.” They added, “the level of the neutral rate seems to be at least around one percent.”
On Wednesday, the BOJ deputy governor said the central bank would not raise rates when financial markets are in a volatile state. The comment came in a week where Japan’s stock and currency markets had seen sharp fluctuations.