The Bank of Japan will probably take its time before raising interest rates again, with October likely being the earliest it might move next, according to a former BOJ official renowned as one of the nation’s leading inflation experts.
"I don’t think the next move will come so soon,” Tsutomu Watanabe, the former official and an economics professor at the University of Tokyo, said Friday. "The BOJ is likely to adjust policy by looking at data, and won’t act irrationally.”
The views of Watanabe, who was a potential candidate to become BOJ governor when the position opened up last year, contrast with those of some BOJ watchers who flag the risk the BOJ could move quickly as the yen slumps near a 34-year low, due in part to rate differentials between the United States and Japan. The professor expects the bank to take some time to gauge inflation trends, as the current price trend isn’t so strong.