Bank of Japan Maintains Key Rate at 0.5%
BOJ Holds
Tokyo, October 30, 2025 — The Bank of Japan (BOJ) concluded its Monetary Policy Meeting (MPM) today, deciding to maintain its current stance on money market operations, despite notable dissent within the Policy Board.
The Policy Board, in a 7-2 majority vote, established the guideline for the intermeeting period to encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.5 percent. This decision was formalized in the Statement on Monetary Policy released on Thursday, October 30, at 12:15.
Policy Board Votes
Seven members voted in favor of maintaining the 0.5 percent target: Governor UEDA Kazuo, Deputy Governors HIMINO Ryozo and UCHIDA Shinichi, along with NOGUCHI Asahi, NAKAGAWA Junko, KOEDA Junko, and MASU Kazuyuki.
The two dissenting votes came from TAKATA Hajime and TAMURA Naoki. They proposed an alternative guideline, suggesting the Bank encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.75 percent. This proposal was ultimately defeated by majority votes.
Rationale for Dissent
The members who voted against the main action cited differing perspectives on inflation and the economic environment.
TAKATA Hajime argued that there had been a shift away from the deflationary norm and indicated that the price stability target had been “more or less achieved”.
TAMURA Naoki viewed the risks to prices as becoming “more skewed to the upside”. He considered that, given this risk, the Bank should set the policy interest rate slightly closer to the neutral rate.
Meeting Context and Government Attendance
The Monetary Policy Meeting spanned two days: Wednesday, October 29 (14:00-15:46) and Thursday, October 30 (9:00-12:08).
The full Policy Board was present, including Chairman UEDA Kazuo (Governor). Representatives from the Japanese government were also in attendance. On October 29, officials present included MAEDA Tsutomu from the Ministry of Finance and HAYASHI Sachihiro from the Cabinet Office. On October 30, NAKATANI Shinichi, State Minister of Finance, and KIUCHI Minoru, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy, attended during the morning sessions.
In addition to the Statement on Monetary Policy, the Bank’s View of the Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices (Outlook Report) was also released on Thursday, October 30 at 12:15. The full text of the Outlook Report is scheduled for release on Friday, October 31 at 14:00.