The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged on Tuesday, but three of the bank's nine board members proposed raising borrowing costs amid concerns about inflationary pressures stemming from the conflict in the Middle East.
As widely expected, the Bank of Japan kept its short-term interest rate unchanged at 0.75 percent at a two-day meeting that ended on Tuesday.
Council members Hajime Takata, Naoki Tamura and Junko Nakagawa opposed the decision and called for it to be raised to one percent.
On the other hand, the central bank indicated in a statement that the average expectations of the members of the Monetary Policy Committee regarding the core inflation rate, which excludes the most volatile goods such as food and energy, during the current year rose to 2.8 percent, while the average in January was 1.9 percent annually.
The committee members also expect the pace of growth in the Japanese economy to slow during the current year.
At the same time, members of the Monetary Policy Committee stressed the need to pay close attention to rising prices against the backdrop of external geopolitical and economic developments, and their effects on the Japanese economy.
Bank Governor Kazuo Ueda is expected to provide a media briefing on the decision.
