Some members of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board called for improvement in the employment and income situation to maintain solid domestic demand, given the relatively slow pace in the recovery of exports and production, according to the minutes of their Oct. 3-4 meeting.
A few members noted the recovery in exports and output had so far lacked momentum, the minutes released Wednesday show, with one policymaker saying activity in manufacturing might be weaker than expected due to such factors as a delay in overseas economic improvement.
For domestic demand to maintain its strength, board members shared the view that it was important that improvement in the jobs and income situation continued to support consumption, while agreeing a pickup in income was likely to gradually become clearer.
On overseas economies, some members touched on the need to pay attention to the risk of "large fluctuations" that could occur in financial markets depending on developments in U.S. monetary policy, noting that market participants "seemed to perceive that it had become more difficult to predict the direction of monetary policy."
Many members also said the U.S. debt ceiling problem required attention, as it could adversely affect the economy if a high degree of uncertainty over the U.S. fiscal policy persisted.
As for emerging economies, members agreed that developments toward improvement had been weakening on the whole, due to slowing domestic demand and sluggish trade.