At its Monetary Policy Meeting on October 30, the Bank of Japan decided by a vote of 8 to 1 to set the guideline for money market operations as encouraging the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 1.25 percent. It also decided unanimously to revise the annual pace of sales of its exchange-traded fund (ETF) holdings from about JPY 330 billion to about JPY 860 billion on a book-value basis, with implementation from January 2027.At its meeting on October 30, the Bank of Japan decided to keep the interest rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans at around 1.25 percent. The decision was taken by a vote of the board members: 8 in favor and 1 against. The Bank also decided to increase the amount of stock bundles (ETFs) it sells each year.
Annual pace of ETF sales (book-value basis)
CurrentAfter the revision (from January 2027)
Annual pace of salesAbout JPY 330 billionAbout JPY 860 billion
Share of total trading value in the marketAbout 0.05%About 0.1%
Annual pace of J-REIT salesAbout JPY 5 billionAbout JPY 5 billion (unchanged)
Amount sold per year (measured at the purchase price)
On October 30, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that November will be the Campaign Month for Preventing Burden-Shifting onto Subcontractors. Working with the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency and the Japan Fair Trade Commission, the ministry will carry out intensive awareness activities, including displaying posters and requesting cooperation from industry-supervising ministries, prefectures, and labour and management organizations. Prefectural labour bureaus will also make company visits to large firms that may be causing such burden-shifting.When a large company tries to cut overtime, some of that work can be passed on to smaller partner firms, turning into unreasonable requests such as finish it by tomorrow or redo it right away. This is called burden-shifting. For one month in November, the government will raise awareness with posters and visit large firms that may be placing such strain on others.
Read more →Japan Fair Trade CommissionTrade rules & company law
On October 30, 2026 (Reiwa 8), the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) announced a recommendation against 株式会社日工 (Nikko). According to the release, the company had subcontracted the manufacture of bolts and similar parts to 16 subcontractors and, between December 2024 and December 2025, deducted a total of JPY 17,128,945 from the subcontract payments by applying a fixed rate to the amounts in order to secure its own profit. It is a useful prompt to review in-house practices on the ordering side.When a large company asks a small factory to make parts, the price is agreed in advance. But one company, after receiving the finished parts, paid less than agreed by taking off a percentage of the price. On October 30 the national competition authority (the JFTC) told it to stop. The amounts taken off came to more than JPY 17 million across 16 business partners, and the company has already paid all of it back.
Read more →Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)Economic news (Japan & world)
On October 30, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released Employment Referrals for General Workers for September 2026 (Reiwa 8). The ratio of active job openings to active job applicants (seasonally adjusted) was 1.19, up 0.01 point from the previous month, and the ratio of new job openings to new applicants (seasonally adjusted) was 2.19, up 0.13 point. For regular (permanent) positions the ratio was 1.01. These figures serve as basic reference data for assessing the hiring environment.Every month the government compares the number of job openings filed with the public employment offices against the number of people looking for work. In September 2026, there were 119 openings for every 100 job seekers. This is expressed as an openings-to-applicants ratio of 1.19. When the figure is above 1, there are more companies looking for people than people looking for work.
Read more →Ministry of Health, Labour and WelfareLabor law & HRApplications close on Friday, February 26, 2027
On October 30, 2026 (Reiwa 8), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) announced that it will run the FY2027 Contest for Companies Making the Most of Older Workers, jointly with the Japan Organization for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers, and is inviting examples of initiatives that help older workers thrive. Applications close on Friday, February 26, 2027; for postal applications, a postmark of that day is accepted. Winners are scheduled to be announced in mid-September 2027.The national government (the MHLW) is looking for companies that let people keep working past the age of 65 and that have gone further with their own ideas, so that it can honour them. Applications opened on October 30 and close on February 26, 2027. The chosen companies will be announced in mid-September 2027, and the very best are due to be honoured in Tokyo in October of the same year.
Read more →Bank of JapanEconomic news (Japan & world)
The Bank of Japan holds a Monetary Policy Meeting on October 29 and 30, and immediately after it ends the Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices (the Basic View) is released. The price stability target that underpins those judgements was set in a document published on January 22, 2013 as a 2% year-on-year rate of increase in consumer prices, to be achieved as early as possible. Here is which index that 2% refers to, and when the related releases appear.The Bank of Japan aims for a state in which the prices of the things and services we buy are about 2% higher than a year earlier. This is called the price stability target, and it was decided and published on January 22, 2013. On October 29 and 30 a meeting is held to discuss the economy and prices ahead, and a document setting out the outlook comes out as soon as it finishes.
Read more →Bank of JapanEconomic news (Japan & world)
On October 30, 2026, the Bank of Japan published the Bank's View in its Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices (October 2026), decided at the Monetary Policy Meeting held on October 29 and 30. In fiscal 2026 higher energy and raw material prices weigh on the economy, but growing global AI-related demand, government measures and accommodative financial conditions provide support, so growth is expected to slow yet remain moderate. Year-on-year CPI (all items less fresh food) is projected to rise clearly above 2% and then narrow toward about 2%.Every three months the Bank of Japan publishes an Outlook Report on how it sees the economy and prices ahead. In the October 2026 report, higher oil and raw material prices are a heavy load, but the worldwide demand for machines and parts used for AI and other factors provide support, so Japan's economy is expected to keep growing slowly. Prices are expected to rise clearly above the 2% the Bank is aiming for, and then to come back to around 2%.
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