Central Banks
Ishiba Ally Sends Signal to Warn BOJ Against Rate Hike Too Soon
- Akazawa says various conditions need to be met before a hike
- Top priority should be defeating deflation, new minister says
Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba doesn’t unconditionally support the raising of interest rates, one of his closest allies said, underscoring the view that the new cabinet is unlikely to want the Bank of Japan to rush into further rate hikes.
“It’s not necessarily accurate to say Prime Minister Ishiba is pro-rate hikes,” Ryosei Akazawa, the minister for economic revitalization in Ishiba’s new cabinet, told reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday. “There are various conditions that need to be met for a hike. The top priority is overcoming deflation.”