Report
Bank of Japan meets 17-18 September; a rise to 1.25% is expected
The Bank of Japan's Policy Board meets on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 September 2026 and announces its decision on the final day, its published meeting schedule shows. The Bank's latest statement, on 31 July 2026, kept the uncollateralized overnight call rate at around 1.0 percent by an 8-1 majority, with board member Takata Hajime proposing 1.25 percent. The Japan Times reports the Bank is set to raise the rate to 1.25 percent, a level last seen in April 1995.
The Bank of Japan's Policy Board meets on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 September 2026 and announces its decision on the final day, according to the Bank's published schedule of Monetary Policy Meetings. The Bank's Monetary Policy Releases page lists no September statement yet; the most recent is dated 31 July 2026.
At that July meeting the Board decided, by an eight-to-one majority vote, that the Bank will encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 1.0 percent. Board member Takata Hajime voted against the decision and proposed 1.25 percent; his proposal was defeated. The same guideline was set on 16 June 2026, by a seven-to-one majority vote, effective from 17 June 2026.
The Japan Times reports that the Bank is set to raise the policy rate to 1.25 percent, a level last seen in April 1995. That is an expectation rather than an outcome: no September decision has been published, and the guideline in force today is the one the Board set in June.
The guideline names the uncollateralized overnight call rate, the rate at which financial institutions lend to each other overnight. When the decision lands, the pages to read are the statement itself, which carries the vote and any dissent, and the schedule, which fixes the next meeting; both are published in English on the Bank's site.
Source details and supporting facts
Each line is stated by the page named above it.
Stated by The Japan Times
- The Bank of Japan is set to raise its policy interest rate to 1.25%.
- The rate increase is expected next week.
- The last time the Bank of Japan's policy interest rate stood at 1.25% was in April 1995.
Sources
- The Japan TimesText stored 12 September 2026
How this story was checked. Written from the 1 page listed above, stored 12 September 2026; claims checked against that stored text on 14 September 2026.
What that means
- 3 of 3 reported statements were confirmed against the page that carries them; the rest were removed rather than published.
- Figures in the text were required to appear in the stored source text: yes. Identifiers: yes.
- The check reads stored text only: no claim rests on a fresh look that did not happen.
- Where the reporting was silent, the text says so instead of filling the gap.