New Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s unexpected warning against raising interest rates is pushing back expectations of another central bank move this year, and raising doubts about his communications.
Ishiba triggered a sharp yen slide on Wednesday after he said Japan wasn’t ready for higher borrowing costs for the time being, in an unusually direct remark for a prime minister following his meeting with Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda.
A Bloomberg survey last month showed that 53% of economists forecast the BOJ would push up interest rates for the third time this year in December. But that outlook has now been thrown into doubt.
