Nomura economist warns Takaichi blueprint could delay BOJ rate hike
Adviser Toshihiro Nagahama still backs moderate BOJ tightening, saying June’s rate increase was appropriate and two further hikes toward 1.5% could help curb excessive yen weakness.
Nomura Research Institute economist Takahide Kiuchi said Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s economic blueprint, expected to win cabinet approval this month, could delay the Bank of Japan’s next rate move if it is used to oppose further hikes. Separately, Toshihiro Nagahama, a private-sector member of Japan’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy and chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said the BOJ should keep raising rates at a moderate pace from the current 1% policy rate toward around 1.5%, and said a June rate increase was appropriate because delaying tightening would worsen excessive yen weakness and hurt households.
- BOJ: Bank of Japan, the central bank.
- bond taper programme: A plan to reduce central bank bond purchases or shrink bond holdings.
- nominal neutral rate: The interest-rate level that neither stimulates nor restrains economic growth.