BOJ to Consider Rate Hike in Earnest at Sept. 17-18 Meeting

Tokyo, Sept. 4 (Jiji Press)--The Bank of Japan is expected to consider in earnest raising its policy interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to around 1.25 pct at its next policymaking meeting Sept. 17-18, informed sources said.

It would be the Japanese central bank's first rate hike in three months. The last time the policy interest rate stood at 1.25 pct was back in April 1995.

With the probability of the BOJ achieving its 2 pct inflation target rising, the envisaged rate hike will come as a way to tackle the upside risks to prices reflecting the Middle East turmoil, the yen's weakness and increasing artificial intelligence-related demand.

At a press conference held Wednesday, Japan time, after the end of a meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs in Asheville, North Carolina, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said that "we are coming quite close" to the price stability goal.

"We'll fully discuss (a rate increase) at every policy meeting, including the next one," he added.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]