- NEWS Desk Global
BOJ WILL RAISE RATES AGAIN THIS YEAR
The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates again in 2024, although there is no clear consensus on the exact timing of the move. Last month, the central bank made a significant shift away from its super-easy monetary policy by ending negative rates and raising rates for the first time in 17 years to a range of 0.0-0.1%. The prevailing view among traders is that the BOJ will refrain from aggressive hikes in the near-term to support a fragile economic recovery. This sentiment has contributed to the yen's decline against the U.S. dollar.
According to a recent poll conducted from April 10-17, none of the economists predicted the next rate hike would occur before the end of June. However, just over a third of them, or 21 out of 61, anticipated that borrowing costs would rise to either 0.20% or 0.25% in the July-September quarter. Chiyuki Takamatsu, chief economist at Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance, suggested that the BOJ may be inclined to raise rates in July as consumers' price expectations increase.