Japan’s New PM Not Necessarily Positive About More Rate Hikes, Economy Minister Says

Japan’s newly appointed economy minister, Ryosei Akazawa, stated on Wednesday that it is not necessarily accurate to say that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba supports further interest rate increases by the Bank of Japan (BOJ).

“Our top priority is to ensure that Japan completely exits from deflation,” Akazawa, a close ally of Ishiba, explained, noting that this process will take time. He also mentioned that Ishiba’s earlier comments regarding the need for monetary policy normalization were accompanied by various conditions.