Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank’s baseline view remains to continue raising interest rates if the economy and inflation evolve as projected, signalling growing confidence that the BOJ’s forecasts are on track. Ueda noted that the likelihood of those projections materialising is increasing, reinforcing expectations of further, gradual policy normalisation.
That's some new news right there. There is a but, read on ....
However, he said policymakers kept settings unchanged at the latest meeting to allow more time to confirm that firms’ newfound willingness to raise wages will not falter. Ueda stressed that the BOJ is still in a phase of scrutinising early signals from next year’s wage negotiations — a critical factor in determining whether price gains can be sustained.
He added that the BOJ will make full use of fresh information gathered nationwide through branch surveys ahead of future meetings, suggesting wage and price dynamics remain the decisive inputs for the policy path. The next meeting will debate the timing and likelihood of rate hike.
