Minutes of the Bank of Japan's October meeting showed some policymakers urged
accelerating rate hikes as underlying inflation reaches the bank's 2% target.
One member said: "The effects of earlier hikes have not fully emerged and
financial conditions remain accommodative. Japan has entered a new phase; the
BOJ needs to speed up adjusting policy rates to neutral." Two other members said
policy rates should be raised to a level that is "neutral" for the economy as
soon as possible. At the Oct. 29-30 meeting the BOJ left its policy rate at
1.25% but said its 14-year effort to hit the price target has been achieved,
flagged upside risks to prices and reinforced a hawkish stance.
