(Update) BOJ Puts Off Additional Rate Hike

   Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)--The Bank of Japan stopped short of deciding an additional interest rate hike at its two-day Policy Board meeting that ended Thursday, apparently seeing a need to keep a close watch on factors including impacts of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's policies.
   On the second day of the meeting, the BOJ's Policy Board decided, by a vote of eight to one, to keep its monetary policy unchanged. The central bank will continue guiding the unsecured overnight call rate, Japan's benchmark short-term interbank lending rate, to around 0.25 pct.
   The BOJ decided in late July to raise the call rate target to the current level from the range of zero to 0.1 pct. It left the target unchanged at the September, October and December policy-setting meetings.
   While believing that economic and price trends in Japan have been largely in line with expectations, the BOJ apparently thinks it needs to carefully examine the impacts of economic policies of Trump, who is set to officially take office Jan. 20, and the results of next year's "shunto" spring wage negotiations at Japanese companies, BOJ watchers said.
   Naoki Tamura, one of the nine Policy Board members, voted against the BOJ maintaining the policy status quo, and instead proposed raising the interest rate target to around 0.5 pct. The proposal was rejected by a majority vote.

(2024/12/19-14:14)