Royal Mint sees record gold, silver bullion sales between January and March

We are pleased to welcome all of you, distinguished speakers and guests, to the 2026 BOJIMES Conference. Thank you very much for your participation. The theme of this year’s conference is "Monetary Policy from New Perspectives." I am sure that supply shocks loom large in everyone’s mind. They are not a new phenomenon but at least have become more frequent. Whether a new perspective is truly needed, I leave it for debate — but revisiting past experience is, I think, an indispensable starting point. I do not have a new perspective to offer at this point. Instead, let me go through Japan’s experience with major energy shocks during the last five decades and offer some food for discussion. Since the 1970s, the global economy has been hit by significant spikes in energy prices, especially oil prices, as shown in Chart 1. There are five notable incidents: the first oil shock of 1973, the second oil shock of 1979, the oil price surge of the mid-2000s leading to the 2008 Great Financial Crisis, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the recent conflict in the Middle East. However, the response of Japan’s consumer price index (CPI) to oil price Just in | BoJ Governor Ueda warns that elevated inflation expectations and increasing wages heighten the risk of second-round effects on the economy. Just in | BoJ Governor Ueda: A significant shock may remain temporary if transmission channels remain inactive. Just in | BoJ Governor Ueda: Japan's oil shocks highlight challenges to the broader inflation framework, beyond just oil prices.