FOCUS: BOJ quickens interest rate hikes, tightening course remains unclear

Economists expect the Bank of Japan to maintain the faster pace of interest rate increases, though a question remains as to how far the current rate hike cycle will go.The BOJ on Friday raised its policy interest rate to a 31-year high of 1.25 percent from 1.0 percent at a monetary policy meeting.The decision marks the first increase in three months, the shortest interval between hikes since the BOJ ended a decade of unorthodox monetary easing with its first rate increase in 17 years in March 2024.Takeshi Minami, chief strategist at Norinchukin Research Institute, expects the BOJ to continu…READ FULL ARTICLE