Financial News Agency, May 27 (Editor Liu Rui) On Monday morning, former Bank of Japan board member Takako Masai said that if Japan's economic situation remains roughly unchanged, the Bank of Japan may raise its benchmark interest rate to 0 before the end of the year.howiemandelgameshow.5%。
Bank of Japan may raise interest rates to 0 during the yearhowiemandelgameshow.5%
Takako Masai served on the Board of Governors of the Bank of Japan for five years until she stepped down in June 2021. On Monday morning, Takako Masai said in an interview: "This (the prospect of raising interest rates) really depends on the real economy. If economic expectations remain at current levels,howiemandelgameshowI think it is okay to raise interest rates once or twice, and ultimately we expect to raise interest rates to around 0.5%."
Also early Monday, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said at the Bank of Japan's annual international meeting that the Bank of Japan would act cautiously to anchor inflation expectations at 2%.
Kazuo Ueda said that he has a relationship with the worldhowiemandelgameshowCompared with other central banks, some of the challenges faced by the Bank of Japan are unique and particularly difficult.
The difficult challenges mentioned by Kazuo Ueda may refer to Japan's decade-long ultra-loose monetary policy.
The Bank of Japan ended negative interest rates in March this year, marking that it has finally emerged from the swamp of ultra-loose monetary policy and is expected to gradually increase interest rates.
However, as the key to the Bank of Japan's further decision to raise interest rates, Japan's inflation data has performed slightly less than expected in the near term. Data released on Friday showed that Japan's inflation cooled for the second consecutive month in April, with consumer prices excluding fresh food rising 2.2%. However, this indicator has exceeded the Bank of Japan's 2% price target for the 25th consecutive month.
Japanese businesses and households have changed inflation expectations
According to Takako Masai, due to rising prices in the past two years, the inflation expectations of businesses and households have changed.
"The Bank of Japan wants to make sure everything is normal, but at the same time they also have to deal with the side effect of (loose monetary policy), which is a weaker yen," she said."On the bright side, companies have good performance and sufficient capacity to invest in the future."
She believes that the Bank of Japan needs to strengthen communication on the yen issue and remain vigilant about its possible impact on consumption.
Takako Masai said that based on the central bank's recent communications, including summaries of opinions from recent policy meetings and leadership comments, the authorities appear to be focusing on further steeping the government bond yield curve.
She said it was still difficult to judge the Bank of Japan's precise assessment of the economic impact of a weak yen, and "they need to have some communication in this regard."