The minutes of the Bank of Japan meeting indicate that it is necessary to raise the benchmark interest rate. A council member stated that given the core CPI inflation rate approaching 2% and the loose financial environment, the central bank should continue to raise policy interest rates. The Bank of Japan implemented its first interest rate hike since December last week, and the meeting minutes strengthened market expectations for another rate hike before the end of the year. According to the survey, about 90% of respondents expect another interest rate hike before December, with over one-third expecting October to be the next adjustment window. Economists predict that the interest rate in this round of interest rate increase cycle will reach 1.75%, higher than the 1.5% predicted in the previous survey.
