long-term interest rates in Japan had stopped rising but felt they had not stabilised, minutes from a policy-setting meeting held on August 7-8 showed on Thursday. The board members agreed there was a need to closely watch financial markets for the possible effects of rises in interest rates, and because some members saw a possible risk to the financial system from the disposal of banks' non-performing loans. One member said attention should be paid to the effects of a rise in U.S. long-term interest rates, because that might affect both the U.S. economy and global financial markets. The BOJ maintained its current monetary policy at its latest policy meeting last week.