Not to be released until 2:00 p.m.
Japan Standard Time on Tuesday,
January 23, 2007.
January 23, 2007
Bank of Japan

Minutes of the
Monetary Policy Meeting
on December 18 and 19, 2006

(중략)
III. Summary of Discussions on Monetary Policy for the Immediate Future
On the monetary policy stance for the immediate future, members agreed that,
based on their assessment of the economic and financial situation, it was appropriate to maintain the current guideline for money market operations that the Bank would encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.25 percent.

Some members noted the fact that, in the money market, the uncollateralized
overnight call rate had been stable despite large fluctuations in the supply-demand balance of funds in the market, and said that trading in the money market had been smooth, partly because market participants had become more accustomed to trading in the current financial environment and the Bank had been conducting money market operations flexibly.

Regarding the future path of monetary policy, members agreed that they would
continue to assess economic activity and prices carefully, and that if developments in economic activity and prices were likely to follow the Bank's projection presented in the October 2006 Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices (hereafter the Outlook Report), it would be appropriate to conduct monetary policy in line with the thinking described in it that the Bank would adjust the level of the policy interest rate gradually in the light of developments in economic activity and prices. Members concurred that, although the fundamental mechanisms underlying economic activity and prices remained intact, further examination of incoming economic indicators as well as other relevant information was necessary given the fact that indicators such as those for private consumption and consumer prices had recently been relatively weak.

One member said that, if it was confirmed with more confidence in the interim assessment to be made at the next meeting that developments in economic activity and prices were most likely to follow the Bank's projection presented in the October Outlook Report, the Bank should implement a policy change. A few members said that the Bank did not need to rush into adjusting the level of interest rates, but if it became more certain about future developments in economic activity and prices, it should adjust the unprecedentedly low level of the policy interest rate at an appropriate time, at the meeting in January or later. A few other members commented that, in the process of adjusting the level of the policy interest rate, the Bank should judge the timing of any policy change appropriately, carefully examining various types of information until uncertainty about the outlook for economic activity and prices was dispelled to some extent.

Members referred to the fact that the timing of a possible policy change was
increasingly attracting the attention of the public, including market participants. They agreed that it was still important for the Bank to carefully explain that it would judge the timing of any policy change appropriately, without any predetermined idea, by carefully assessing economic activity and prices based on up-to-date information.
(이하 생략)
※출처: 일본은행(BOJ)