UK Preliminary Services PMI unexpectedly drops to 51.2 in July vs. 53 expected

Junko Koeda recently argued for the need to monitor second-round effects from rising rice costs. Another board member, Hajime Takata, said this month the BOJ must resume rate hikes after a temporary pause as Japan was on the cusp of achieving the bank's 2% target.

"If upward inflation risks heighten, the BOJ may need to act decisively as a guardian of price stability," its hawkish policymaker Naoki Tamura said late last month.