Gearoid Reidy, Columnist

Bank of Japan Will Struggle to Justify Hikes After This

With an unusually gloomy outlook for both the economy and inflation target, the central bank has just made it more difficult to keep raising rates.

May 1, 2025 at 7:44 AM UTC

By Gearoid Reidy

Gearoid Reidy is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Japan and the Koreas. He previously led the breaking news team in North Asia, and was the Tokyo deputy bureau chief.

A gloomy outlook for both Japan’s economy and inflation target. — A gloomy outlook for both Japan’s economy and inflation target.
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg

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Speaking just days after President Donald Trump returned to office in January, the head of the Bank of Japan was sanguine.

“We judged that the international financial and capital markets have remained calm overall since” his return to power, Governor Kazuo Ueda told reporters, using the lack of market ructions to explain his decision to raise rates that day to the highest level in 17 years.