TOKYO, June 18 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan policymakers shared the view that supply constraints such as labour shortages had surfaced as a massive monetary stimulus increased demand, minutes of the central bank's May meeting showed on Wednesday.
"Many members expressed the view that it was important to make efforts to raise the growth potential of the economy from a medium- to long-term perspective," the minutes of the May 20-21 meeting showed.
At the May meeting, the BOJ kept policy steady and painted a slightly more optimistic view of the economy, revising up its assessment on capital spending and dropping a reference to the country being in deflation.
The central bank stood pat on policy at a subsequent meeting in June, when it offered a more upbeat view on overseas growth, further dashing expectations of near-term monetary loosening.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Edmund Klamann)