01-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
BOJ Rate Hike in 2025 Looks Like a Question of If, Not When
0626 GMT – A Bank of Japan rate hike in 2025 is now a question of if rather than when, Moody's Analytics' Stefan Angrick says after the central bank stood pat. The BOJ 8301 8.17%increase; green up pointing triangle cut its GDP and inflation forecasts, citing risks skewed to the downside. 'After more than a year of BOJ communication insisting that the economy is doing well and improving, despite the hard data saying the opposite, this shift in tone is notable,' the economist says. But that doesn't mean it's done hiking–inflation looks sticky, and the BOJ would keep hiking if not for extreme uncertainties around trade, he adds. Pinpointing the next move is tough: yen depreciation, rising inflation and/or improved wage growth could see another hike this year. Absent that, a hike next year or the year after seems more plausible, depending on the global trade war, he says. (
