An increasing number of economists expect the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates again in October after it stands pat next week, with most of them flagging an earlier move in July as a risk scenario, according to a Bloomberg survey.
All 54 economists except for one predict no policy change at the central bank’s two-day meeting ending on April 26, following last month’s decision to push up rates for the first time since 2007 and call time on a massive monetary stimulus program.
Some 41% of respondents forecast October to be the timing for the BOJ’s next rate increase. That figure is up from 26% in a survey conducted a few days after the March 18-19 meeting. The proportion of those predicting a July move as their main scenario dropped to 19% from just under a quarter in late March.