Most Bank of Japan (BOJ) watchers are reassessing the trajectory of interest rates and bringing forward their forecasts after Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s hawkish messaging Wednesday and his earlier-than-expected rate hike.
Some 68% of 41 economists see the policy rate rising to 0.5% from 0.25% by the end of this year, according to a Bloomberg survey conducted Thursday. Just under a quarter predicts the hike to come in October, while 44% opt for December. Another fifth expects the move to take place in January.
The median forecast for the end-of-year rate level doubled to 0.5% from the previous survey conducted before the policy meeting that ended Wednesday.
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