Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is in a rare sweet spot for Japanese monetary officials as he weighs a historic policy move with virtually no political opposition, in sharp contrast to the experiences of his BOJ predecessors.
Ueda’s BOJ has signaled clearly in speeches and minutes from board meetings that it intends to raise rates for the first time since 2007, putting an end to the world’s last negative rate regime. So far no politicians, government officials, bankers or business leaders have voiced strong opposition to the idea.
That opens the way for Ueda to proceed, with most BOJ watchers expecting the step to be taken by April. Data published Thursday is expected to show the economy rebounded to annualized growth of 1.1% in the fourth quarter after a deep contraction in the summer, supporting the case to lift rates.