key takeaways
- The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) policy board announced on 20 September that it would leave its monetary policies unchanged, citing global economic uncertainty, though Governor Ueda Kazuo did not rule out additional rate hikes in the near term.
- The bigger challenge for Ueda is the possibility that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chooses Takaichi Sanae, who has repeatedly expressed her opposition to BOJ policy normalization, as its next leader, which could lead to conflict between the BOJ and her government.
- Takaichi, however, is not guaranteed to win and the most likely alternatives would be more inclined to respect the BOJ’s independence.
Japan Foresight 