MNI BRIEF: BOJ Board Member: Policy Post Covid Needs A Review

One Bank of Japan board member said it is important to look for new ways to improve policy responses after the pandemic, the minutes of the June 17-18 meeting released on Wednesday said.

However, the board members didn't discuss possible policy options and the members agreed to persistently maintain the current easy policy.

"One member pointed out that it was important to push forward with reforming the economic structure, which had been delayed due to the impact of COVID-19," the minutes showed.

"The BOJ needed to devise various ways to improve policy responses that could contribute to the sound development of Japan's economy, taking into account global trends in economic and social structures changing toward the post-COVID-19 era," the same member said.

MEMBERS WARN OF PRICES

"A few members said that attention should be paid to the fact that indicators for capturing the underlying trend in prices continued to show relatively weak developments," the minutes said.

One member said, "From the second half of 2021, the environment surrounding prices was expected to improve and the inflation rate was likely to increase as pent-up demand started materializing."

"A different member expressed the view that prices could be pushed up depending on the situation regarding vaccinations, but such inflationary pressure was expected to be only transitory, partly due to an entrenched deflationary mindset," the minutes said.

"Meanwhile, one member said that, in order for an economic recovery to lead to a sustained rise in the CPI, it was important that accommodative financial conditions be maintained amid fiscal support being provided and that households and firms allocate their excess funds to consumption or investment," the minutes said.