The Bank of Japan has released the minutes of its monetary policy meetings from the first half of 2016, revealing that the January meeting, which decided to introduce a negative interest rate policy, saw a flood of concerns about side effects such as deteriorating bank profits, and the vote was a narrow 5 in favor to 4 against. At the time, falling crude oil prices and concerns over a slowdown in the Chinese economy were driving stock declines and yen appreciation, and the extraordinary easing had failed to produce the expected effects. At the meeting, alongside the introduction of negative rates, it was also decided to push back the timing for achieving the 2 percent price target from the second half of fiscal 2016 to the first half of fiscal 2017. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda explained that the effects of monetary easing would be further strengthened, and Deputy Governor Hiroshi Nakaso stressed the need for the introduction, saying that risks of adverse effects on the underlying trend in prices were heightening. However, board member Sayuri Shirai pointed out that it was unavoidable that the continuation or increase of asset purchases would be seen as becoming difficult, and board member Takahide Kiuchi expressed concern that it would deal an additional major blow to the earnings environment of financial institutions as a whole.