Financial expert Izuru Kato has warned against the Bank of Japan's cautious stance toward monetary policy normalization, saying that a delay could make it necessary to raise interest rates steeply.
"The BOJ is cautious about normalizing its monetary policy as it aims to ensure that inflation stabilizes at 2%," Kato, who is the president of Totan Research and is well-versed in central bank policies, said in a recent interview.
The cautiousness also apparently reflects the bank's "judgment that the country's ballooning government debts and housing loans are vulnerable to higher interest rates," Kato said.