BOJ Ueda Leaves Open Chance of Another Rate Hike This Year

   Nagoya, Nov. 18 (Jiji Press)--Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Monday did not rule out the possibility of the central bank conducting an additional interest rate increase by the end of this year.
   Regarding the timing of the BOJ's next possible interest rate hike, Ueda told a press conference in the central Japan city of Nagoya that "although there are countless uncertainties, including uncertainty over the U.S. economy, the BOJ would not necessarily wait for all of them (to be resolved) before making a policy change."
   After speculation that the BOJ will move to raise its policy rate at its next policy-setting meeting in December, Ueda said that "we will revise our economic outlook and risks based on additional data and information obtained since the October meeting, and make an appropriate decision at that time."
   Progress has been made toward achieving the BOJ's 2 pct inflation target, a condition for another interest rate hike, Ueda noted.
   He also said that the BOJ will move forward with monetary policy normalization in line with improvements in the economic and price environment, saying that if the BOJ does not adjust its monetary policy according to the degree of its monetary easing as appropriate, a sharp acceleration in inflation may occur, and the BOJ might be forced to raise interest rates rapidly.

(2024/11/18-18:27)

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