Mizuho Financial Group expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates as soon as next month, as weak yen and continued inflationary pressure may prompt the central bank to tighten monetary policy more quickly. Kenya Koshimizu, co-head of Mizuho's global marketing department, said that the possibility of interest rate hikes in September is “quite high,” and the Bank of Japan may also shorten the policy action interval from about six months to once every three months. “Once the Bank of Japan switches to acting every three months, it will be difficult to slow down any longer,” Koshimizu said in an interview in Tokyo. He pointed out that the current 1% policy interest rate “is still clearly in a negative range” after deducting the impact of inflation.

Mizuho Financial Group expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates as soon as next month, as weak yen and continued inflationary pressure may prompt the central bank to tighten monetary policy more quickly. Kenya Koshimizu, co-head of Mizuho's global marketing department, said that the possibility of interest rate hikes in September is “quite high,” and the Bank of Japan may also shorten the policy action interval from about six months to once every three months. “Once the Bank of Japan switches to acting every three months, it will be difficult to slow down any longer,” Koshimizu said in an interview in Tokyo. He pointed out that the current 1% policy interest rate “is still clearly in a negative range” after deducting the impact of inflation.