Japan's finance minister says economy nears wage-led inflation phase
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Japan is on the cusp of sustained inflation driven by rising wages, and that the government sees no gap with the BOJ.
- published on Newsmetry
- original source published
the public page opens no earlier than 15 minutes after we detect the story. approved stories may reach the api sooner. connect the api →
what happened
Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Wednesday that current price increases are being driven by costlier imports, but the economy is approaching a phase of lasting inflation fuelled by rising wages, Reuters reported from her remarks to parliament.
Katayama said the government is in regular talks with the Bank of Japan and sees no conflict between its views and the central bank's. Asked whether planned tax cuts could clash with BOJ rate hikes, she acknowledged that tax cuts generally lift demand and prices, but said fiscal policy would aim to expand supply capacity without accelerating inflation.
The BOJ raised its policy rate to 1.25% in September, a 31-year high, as energy costs linked to the Iran war, strong AI-related demand and a weak yen push up import prices and raise the risk of inflation overshooting its 2% target.
why it matters
For markets, the public alignment between government and central bank matters, and a planned food consumption tax cut from April could add to demand. That raises the odds of further BOJ tightening, which bears on the yen and Japanese government bond yields.
market impact
Yen and JGBs: expectations of further BOJ tightening support yields and the yen
tags
instruments
sources
- Japan shifting to wage-driven inflation phase, finance minister says — Reuters, 21 October 2026 at 01:09 UTC
prepared by the newsmetry newsroom with ai assistance from the sources listed below. not investment advice.
the public page opens no earlier than 15 minutes after we detect the story. approved stories may reach the api sooner.
get stories in real time ↗