PM Takaichi Holds 1st Meeting with BOJ Gov. Ueda

Tokyo, Nov. 18 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held her first one-on-one meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Tuesday. “We had a frank and good conversation about the economy, prices, financial market conditions and monetary policy from various aspects,” Ueda told reporters after the meeting, held at the prime minister’s office. Takaichi, who took office about a month ago, has been calling for the continuation of monetary easing. Ueda said, however, that she made no particular request about the central bank’s monetary policy during the meeting. On Wednesday last week, both Takaichi and Ueda attended a meeting of the government’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy. At the meeting, the prime minister stressed that it is important for monetary policy to be appropriately managed to help the country achieve both strong economic growth and stable price increases. “The government and the BOJ will continue working together to develop the national economy,” she also said. The BOJ is promoting its exit from large-scale monetary easing, however. The central bank is apparently planning to raise interest rates according to improvements in the economic and price conditions amid receding uncertainty over the high tariff policy of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Financial market players expect the BOJ to raise its policy interest rate next month or in January 2026 in the first hike since January this year. Former prime ministers have met regularly with BOJ governors. Shigeru Ishiba, Takaichi’s immediate predecessor, met with Ueda on Sept. 3. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]