The Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept its interest rate unchanged at 0.75%

At its monetary policy meeting on January 23, the BOJ decided to maintain its target for the unsecured overnight call rate, which serves as the policy rate, at 0.75%. Taking into account government economic measures and continued wage increases, the BOJ raised its forecasts for economic growth and consumer price inflation in fiscal year 2026.

The BOJ just decided to raise interest rates at its December 2025 policy meeting and will continue to monitor its impact on the economy and prices in the short term, while maintaining its stance of continuing to raise rates.

Among the nine policy board members, board member Hajime Takada believed that the price stability target had been largely achieved. Given the recovery of overseas economies, the risk of upward price pressure was high, and therefore opposed maintaining the current rate, proposing to raise the policy rate to 1.0%. This proposal was rejected due to a majority of dissenting votes.