Earlier than Japan:
From the record, headlines via Reuters:
The members agreed that an easy policy should be patiently maintained
- Several members said that a positive wage inflation cycle must be confirmed in order to consider ending negative rates, YCC
- A few members said that the decision on whether there was a virtuous cycle in wage inflation should be made holistically, rather than looking at specific data.
- A few members said they saw no risk of the Bank of Japan falling behind the curve, and could wait for developments in annual pay talks this spring
- One member said that even if wage increases in 2024 exceeded expectations, the risk of the inflation trend deviating sharply by 2% was small.
- One member said that inflationary pressure in Japan is easing, which is important for close scrutiny of wage and price movements
- One member said the Bank of Japan could spend a long time identifying the wage inflation cycle because it had already addressed the side effects of the YCC
- One member said that the timing of monetary policy normalization is approaching
- One member said the Bank of Japan should not miss the opportunity to change its policy to prevent rising inflation from hurting consumption
- This member said that the risk of inflation rising significantly and the need for severe monetary tightening was small, but if that happened the cost would be enormous.
- Members agreed on the means and order in which the Bank of Japan will end negative interest rates and a decision on the YCC should be made given the economy, price and market movements at that time.
Full text here:
A collapse in inflation will be a dilemma for Bank of Japan Governor Ueda.