11  inaccurate, causing unnecessary confusion. 11 In Japan's current situation, where inflation expectations are not anchored at 2 percent, it would likely be even more difficult to chart future policy in advance.
I would like to emphasise, however, that this pace of increase was more gradual than in previous tightening cycles. Furthermore, when expressed relative to both actual and expected inflation, the real policy rate is still relatively low by long-term historical standards. Thus, monetary accommodation has been partly removed, but without moving to an outright restrictive stance. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  5.