The Bank of Japan might find it difficult to raise rates again this year if the risk of a strengthening yen makes it imprudent to stick to the plan.
“The BOJ’s monetary policy management is increasingly influenced by foreign-exchange rates,” Koichi Fujishiro, an economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute, argued in a recent report.
Fujishiro expects the BOJ to raise rates in December, but if the yen doesn’t weaken excessively, “the need for another rate increase will diminish, so it’s highly possible that the next rate rise will be in March or April.”
