Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda and his board will decide if it’s time for the nation’s first interest rate hike in 17 years at a two-day policy board meeting that ends on Tuesday, as speculation builds that it will proceed with such a move.
Some 90% of BOJ watchers expect authorities to end the negative rate on Tuesday at the meeting’s conclusion, with that likelihood bolstered after the nation’s largest union group announced first-round results to annual wage negotiations that far exceeded expectations.
It’s a monumental moment for Japan. The board is weighing whether to end an era that saw the most aggressive monetary easing in modern history. In addition to a potential departure from the minus 0.1% rate, the fate of a slew of extraordinary tools, including yield curve control and massive asset purchases, is hanging in the balance.