Kazuo Ueda: Toward the achievement of the price stability target accompanied by wage increases
Speech by Mr Kazuo Ueda, Governor of the Bank of Japan, at the Meeting of Councillors of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), Tokyo, 25 December 2025.
The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.
Introduction
It is a great honor to have this opportunity to address such a distinguished gathering of business leaders in Japan today.
2026 is now just a week away. Looking back over the past twelve months, Japan's economy has shown resilience, having continued to recover moderately despite downward pressure on corporate profits stemming from the impact of U.S. tariff policies. Against this backdrop, at the Monetary Policy Meeting (MPM) held last week, the Bank of Japan decided to raise the policy interest rate for the first time since January this year. In this regard, I would like to begin my speech today by briefly explaining the background to the policy change. I would then like to share with you an outline of the state of the economy the Bank is aiming for and, on that basis, set out my hopes for business leaders in Japan.