BOJ must conduct rate hikes nimbly, hawkish board member says

FILE PHOTO: Traffic signs in front of the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, Japan, June 15, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo 02 Sep 2026 09:57AM TOKYO, Sept 2 : The Bank of Japan must conduct interest rate hikes nimbly after gauging domestic financial conditions and examining overseas developments, hawkish board member Hajime Takata said on Wednesday."I consider it necessary for the BOJ to shift from the current stance of encouraging a rise in underlying inflation and to demonstrate to the market its determination to prevent upward deviations in prices," Takata said in a speech to business leaders in Sapporo in northern Japan. Takata was the sole dissenter to the BOJ's decision in July to keep short-term interest rates steady at 1 per cent, calling for a rate hike to 1.25 per cent to