The Bank of Japan’s most hawkish board member Naoki Tamura has flagged the need for two or more interest rate hikes by early next year to contain upside risks for prices.
"The short-term interest rate should be at the 1% level by the second half of fiscal 2025,” up from the current 0.5%, Tamura said Thursday in a speech to local business leaders in Nagano Prefecture. "I think the bank needs to raise this rate in a timely and gradual manner, in response to the increase in the likelihood of achieving the price stability target.”
While Tamura is the leading advocate for rate hikes on the board, the speech is likely to further fuel market speculation that more rate hikes are in the pipeline, a day after solid wage data prompted yen strength on that assumption.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.