BOJ’s Ueda Keeps Options Open by Avoiding Clear Hints for Rates

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda kept his policy options open by reiterating the bank’s long-held stance on interest rates, avoiding sending any clear signals about the prospects for a rate hike when the board meets later this month.

“If the baseline scenario for economic activity and prices outlined so far is realized, the bank, in accordance with improvement in economic activity and prices, will continue to raise the policy interest rate,” Ueda said Friday in a speech to local business leaders in Osaka.