IMF: BoJ likely to raise interest rates again this year

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

Nada Choueiri, Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Asia-Pacific Department and its mission chief for Japan, said on Friday that the “Bank of Japan (BoJ) is likely to raise interest rates again this year.”

Additional quotes

See them reaching levels deemed neutral to the economy by end-2027.

See Japan's neutral interest rate in the band of 1-2%.

Japan's economy likely to expand 1.1% this year as continued recovery in wage growth underpins domestic demand.

Further BoJ rate hikes should be gradual, flexible to ensure pick-up in domestic demand.

Risks to Japan's economic growth are skewed to the downside as heightened uncertainty geopolitical fragmentation weigh on global growth.

Market reaction

USD/JPY is holding mild gains near 151.50 following these comments, up 0.11% on the day.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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