BOJ chief Ueda signals readiness for further rate hikes after recent move

TOKYO - Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Thursday reiterated his readiness to continue raising interest rates from a 30-year high of around 0.75 percent, citing growing confidence in achieving the central bank's inflation target.

In a speech at a meeting of Japan's biggest business lobby in Tokyo, Ueda said the mechanism in which both wages and prices rise moderately -- a key factor affecting policy decisions -- will be maintained next year and beyond.