According to Odaily Planet Daily, Hirofumi Suzuki, an analyst at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, described the outcome as unexpected. While the market generally expected the Bank of Japan to simply maintain its policy unchanged, the launch of the ETF sales program and the dissenting votes of two members (in favor of a 25 basis point rate hike) gave the meeting a hawkish tone. The timeline suggests that even with the LDP leadership election on October 4th, the Bank of Japan is signaling a steady path toward policy normalization. Another rate hike is expected in October. (Jinshi)