Japanese media: Bank of Japan expected to raise interest rates to 0.75%, the highest in 30 years

According to Jinse Finance, citing Nikkei News, the Bank of Japan will hold a monetary policy meeting on December 18-19 to raise the current policy interest rate of 0.5%, and has now entered the final coordination stage. The most likely plan is to raise rates by 25 basis points to 0.75%, reaching the highest level in 30 years since 1995. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda and other senior officials have hinted at their intention to submit a rate hike proposal, and surveys show that more than half of the nine policy board members, including the governor and deputy governors, are expected to support the hike. Currently, not a single policy board member has explicitly opposed the rate hike, and the Japanese government is generally supportive of the move. The Bank of Japan will make its final decision after assessing whether there will be market turmoil such as a stock market crash or a sharp appreciation of the yen. If the rate hike is implemented on Friday, it will be the first time in 11 months since January 2025 that the Bank of Japan has raised its policy interest rate again.