BoJ Minutes of Oct 31 meeting review,...........>

BOJ: BoJ Minutes of Oct 31 meeting review, released 26 December

- Most of the nine policy board members saw no need to conduct additional

monetary easing to lift low consumer prices, with some warning against

side-effects of prolonged massive asset purchases and low profit margins for

lenders. Some board members projected labor shortages would force firms to raise

wages eventually as there is a limit to their efforts to absorb higher costs by

making their operations more efficient or curtailing business hours. Higher

productivity will initially exert downward pressures on prices but in the longer

term, it will support price rises by raising expectations for higher corporate

profits, they argued.