A record of policy discussions from the Bank of Japan’s latest board meeting signaled that the next interest rate increase could come as soon as December, matching the expectations of many market participants.
“It is likely that conditions for taking a further step toward the normalization of the policy interest rate have almost been met,” one of nine board members said while noting the need to examine underlying inflation, a summary of opinions released Monday showed. The board voted 7-2 to hold settings steady at the two-day gathering ended on Oct. 30.