The Bank of Japan must raise interest rates to at least 1% by the second half of the fiscal year beginning in April, hawkish board member Naoki Tamura said on Thursday, remarks that pushed up the yen as they reinforcing bets of a near-term rate hike.

Bank of Japan policy board member Naoki Tamura said, “Raising short-term interest rates to at least around 1% in the latter half of fiscal 2025 is necessary to reduce upside risk to prices and achieve the price stability target in a sustainable and stable manner.

The Bank of Japan is likely to keep raising its benchmark rate to a level exceeding the current market consensus, and there’s a chance two more moves could come this year on top of last month’s hike,

The Bank of Japan must raise short-term interest rates to at least 1% by the second half of fiscal 2025 to contain inflation risks, board member Naoki Tamura said on Thursday.

Speaking today (February 5) to parliament, Kazuhiro Masaki, director-general of the BoJ’s monetary affairs department, noted that Japan’s underlying inflation was still under 2%. He said the central bank should therefore maintain loose monetary policy to support economic activity.

Japan's central bank has increased the cost of borrowing to its highest level in 17 years after consumer price rises accelerated in December. The move by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to raise its short-term policy rate to "around 0.5 per cent" comes just hours after the latest economic data showed prices rose last month at the fastest pace in 16 months.

The Bank of Japan will continue to raise interest rates if underlying inflation accelerates toward its 2% target as projected, a senior central bank official said on Wednesday.

In a well-trailed move, the Bank of Japan on Friday raised the policy rate by 0.25 percentage points, taking it to 0.5 per cent — its highest level in nearly two decades.

Consumer inflation in the Tokyo metropolitan area picked up slightly in January, government data showed Friday, supporting the Bank of Japan’s plan to pursue more interest-rate increases.

THE Bank of Japan must raise short-term interest rates to at least 1 per cent by the second half of fiscal 2025 to contain upside inflation risks, its board member Naoki Tamura said on Thursday. Read more at The Business Times.