Bank of Japan raises benchmark interest rate, outlines roadmap for trimming bond buying program

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Bank of Japan raises benchmark interest rate, outlines roadmap for trimming bond buying program

PUBLISHED WED, JUL 31 2024 12:00 AM EDT
UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Lim Hui Jie

KEY POINTS
• Japan's central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate to "around 0.25%" from it previous range of 0% to 0.1%.
• This would mark the highest interest rates since October 2008, when it was set at 0.3%.
• It also said that it will reduce the monthly outright purchases of Japanese government bonds to about 3 trillion yen ($19.64 billion) per month in the January to March 2026 quarter.

Japan's central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate to "around 0.25%" from its previous range of 0% to 0.1% and outlined its plan to taper its bond buying program.

This would mark the Bank of Japan's highest interest rates since 2008.

{snip}

[progree]

1. The article doesn't give a clear indication why, but I guess this is it:

The central bank forecasts that the core inflation rate — which strips out prices of fresh food — will reach 2.5% by the end of the 2024 fiscal year, and "around 2%" for the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years.

"which strips out prices of fresh food" -- interesting. Our (U.S.) core strips out all food and all energy.

I noticed another article headline that says they are trying to stop the Yen from falling relative to the dollar.