BOJ Officials Saw Need to Watch U.S. Tariff Impact: Minutes

   Tokyo, Aug. 5 (Jiji Press)--Many Bank of Japan policymakers saw the need to examine the impact of high U.S. tariffs on the economy at their June 16-17 meeting, minutes released Tuesday showed.
   Many BOJ Policy Board members shared the view that it was "necessary to examine economic developments, considering the downside risks" to economic activities stemming from the U.S. tariff policy and the situation in the Middle East, according to the minutes.
   A board member said that the BOJ should maintain the policy interest rate at its current level for the time being as "it would still take some time to be able to determine future developments in corporate profits and the direction of U.S.-Japan trade negotiations."
   At the meeting, a few members said that "although uncertainties remained high, there was a possibility that downward pressure on Japan's economy stemming from the U.S. tariff policy would turn out to be less strong than they had expected at the time of the previous meeting."
   Several members said that the BOJ "would likely move on from its current wait-and-see approach and consider resuming the process of policy interest rate hikes, if trade friction was expected to progress without escalation."

(2025/08/05-16:52)

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