### At the BoJ rate announcement yesterday.....>

JGBS: ### At the BoJ rate announcement yesterday the bank decided to keep all

policy unchanged as expected, the aspect that drew attention after the

announcement was the vote. With two new dovish members replacing perennial

hawkish dissenters on the board the 8-1 vote came as a surprise to some. The

dissenter was Goushi Kataoka, one of the new members and a known reflationist,

who lodged dovish dissent saying he doubted the efficacy of YCC and the chances

of hitting the 2% inflation target even beyond 2018.

>> POV: While Kataoka's willingness to dissent will be a comfort to those who

worried that the change in composition of the BoJ could affect the scope of

discussion, his actions will not affect BoJ policy with the other 8 members

firmly behind Kuroda. There was some talk in markets that Kataoka's dissent

could be to lay foundations for proposing additional stimulus in future

meetings. However the BoJ executive board members are due to change in April

2018 (and potentially a new Governor) which means the vote will likely stay

firmly entrenched at 8-1 until at least then. With a possible snap election

looming extra easing could also run contrary to plans of Japanese PM Abe.