Eiko Shinotsuka, a member of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board, said Thursday the BOJ should discuss the official discount rate in light of its ambiguous function in the central bank's monetary policies.
"We need time to properly discuss the significance of the official discount rate," Shinotsuka said at a press conference in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture. "There are some other board members who also question it," she said.
It is the first time a BOJ Policy Board member has publicly mentioned the official discount rate -- the rate the central bank charges to commercial banks.
The rate is at a historic low of 0.5 percent and has been there since September 1995. Since spring 1995, the BOJ has shifted its focus in monetary policy from the official discount rate to the key money market rate.