Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting on March 18 and 19, 2026

May 7, 2026

Bank of Japan

on March 18 and 19, 2026

(English translation prepared by the Bank's staff based on the Japanese original)

A Monetary Policy Meeting of the Bank of Japan Policy Board was held in the Head Office of the Bank of Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:53 p.m., and on Thursday, March 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:39 a.m.1

Government Representatives Present

MAEDA Tsutomu, Deputy Vice-Minister for Policy Planning and Coordination, Ministry of Finance

KIUCHI Minoru, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy, Cabinet Office3 HAYASHI Sachihiro, Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination, Cabinet Office4

MIZUTA Yutaka, Deputy Director General for Economic and Fiscal Management, Cabinet Office5

Reporting Staff

SHIMIZU Seiichi, Executive Director (Assistant Governor) KAMIYAMA Kazushige, Executive Director

1 The minutes of this meeting were approved by the Policy Board at the Monetary Policy Meeting held on April 27 and 28, 2026, as "a document describing an outline of the discussion at the meeting" stipulated in Article 20, paragraph 1 of the Bank of Japan Act of 1997. Those present are referred to by their titles at the time of the meeting.

2 Present via conference call.

3 Present on March 19 from 9:45 a.m. to 11:39 a.m.

4 Present on March 18.

5 Present on March 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:44 a.m.

SUWAZONO Kenji, Executive Director NAKAMURA Koji, Executive Director

OKUNO Akio, Director-General, Monetary Affairs Department

IDE Joji, Head of Policy Planning Division, Monetary Affairs Department

SUZUKI Koichiro, Director-General, Financial System and Bank Examination Department

MINEGISHI Makoto, Director-General, Financial Markets Department KAWAMOTO Takuji, Director-General, Research and Statistics Department

SUGO Tomohiro, Head of Economic Research Division, Research and Statistics Department

CHIKADA Ken, Director-General, International Department

Secretariat of the Monetary Policy Meeting

FUKUDA Eiji, Director-General, Secretariat of the Policy Board

MIURA Yukihiro, Director, Deputy Head of Planning and Coordination Division, Secretariat of the Policy Board

NISHINO Kousuke, Senior Economist, Monetary Affairs Department FUKUSHIMA Shunsuke, Senior Economist, Monetary Affairs Department

1. Market Operations in the Intermeeting Period

   The Bank had been conducting money market operations in accordance with the guideline for money market operations decided at the previous meeting on January 22 and 23, 2026.7 The uncollateralized overnight call rate had been in the range of 0.727 to 0.736 percent.

   Meanwhile, the Bank had conducted Japanese government bond (JGB) purchases of about 2.9 trillion yen per month in accordance with the JGB reduction plan decided at the June 2025 meeting.

2. Recent Developments in Financial Markets

   In the money market, the uncollateralized overnight call rate had been at around

   0.75 percent. The general collateral (GC) repo rate had been at around the same level as the uncollateralized overnight call rate. As for interest rates on term instruments, yields on three-month treasury discount bills (T-Bills) were more or less unchanged.

   The Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX) was more or less unchanged over the intermeeting period; it had risen following the House of Representatives election, but had subsequently declined, affected by the situation in the Middle East. Yields on 10-year JGBs were more or less unchanged, reflecting market attention to inflationary pressure and to concerns over an economic downturn, both of which stemmed from the situation in the Middle East. The liquidity indicators in the JGB markets continued to improve on the whole. In the foreign exchange market, the yen had been more or less flat against both the U.S. dollar and the euro over the intermeeting period, albeit with fluctuations.

3. Overseas Economic and Financial Developments

Overseas economies had grown moderately on the whole, although some weakness had been seen in part, reflecting trade and other policies in each jurisdiction. The U.S. economy maintained solid growth on the whole, although some weakness had been seen in part. European economies had shown resilience, particularly in domestic demand, although

6 Reports were made based on information available at the time of the meeting.

7 The guideline was as follows:

The Bank will encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.75

percent.