The chairman of a Liberal Democratic Party panel on monetary policy said Wednesday the economy was not ready for higher interest rates and called on the Bank of Japan to delay any move to push them higher.

"The market consensus is for ending the 'zero-interest-rate' policy in July or August, but I don't think (it should happen then)," Kozo Yamamoto, chairman of a subcommittee of the LDP's Research Commission on the Financial and Banking System, said in a speech.

Yamamoto said various factors, including an expected downward revision of the consumer price index in August and the latest stock price plunges, show the economy is not ready for interest rate hikes.