IMF calls on BOJ to hike interest rates at ‘gradual’ pace

WASHINGTON : The International Monetary Fund welcomes the Bank of Japan’s decision to raise interest rates in July, but further hikes should proceed at a gradual pace, a senior IMF official said on Thursday.
Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, also told a press briefing that the global lender now expects the BOJ’s policy rate to reach 1.5 per cent in 2027.
The BOJ ended its negative rates policy in March and raised short-term rates to 0.25 per cent in July on the view that Japan was making progress toward sustainably achieving its 2 per cent inflation target.