BOJ May Raise Rates Two More Times in 2024, Columbia’s Ito Says

The Bank of Japan may raise interest rates two more times this year, but it should refrain from responding directly to the weak yen, according to Takatoshi Ito, a professor at Columbia University.

“It’s possible that the rate goes up to 0.25% and then 0.5% this year,” Ito said in an interview Thursday with Bloomberg. “The BOJ is in a rate hike cycle of not too fast or too slow. If inflation is 2%, it’s natural for the rate to go up toward 2%.”