Geldpolitik: Japans Zentralbank plant offenbar Zinserhöhung – Yen gewinnt
Weil die Inflationsrisiken und der Druck auf die Landeswährung hoch bleiben, dürfte die Bank of Japan die Zinsen anheben. Auch langfristig steht eine straffere Geldpolitik in Aussicht.
The Japanese central bank appears to be planning a rise in interest rates, according to sources. This has caused the yen to gain value against the dollar on Friday. The dollar fell by 0.3% to 159.05 yen, reported the news agency Reuters, citing insiders. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is considering raising interest rates and adopting a tighter monetary policy.
The current pace of about two rate hikes per year could be significantly increased. The current benchmark interest rate in Japan is 1.0%. Such a move would reflect the BoJ's growing concern over price pressure caused by the Middle East conflict and the ongoing downward trend of the yen, despite Japan's and the US's recent joint interventions.
The currency has regained about half of the profits earned from interventions in the foreign exchange market at the end of July. As a result, analysts expect import costs and prices for a wide range of goods to rise further. Before the intervention, the Japanese currency briefly fell to a 40-year low of nearly 164 yen against the dollar.
"For the intervention to change the yen trend, a more restrictive stance by the Bank of Japan is required, which the market has already been trying to price in but still needs to be confirmed," said OCBC strategist Sim Moh Siong. The BoJ must act now. A rate hike in September is already priced in at nearly 80% on financial markets.
Following the revelation of the BoJ's deliberations, the yield for five-year Japanese government bonds surged to a record high. The central bank itself declined to comment. At its last meeting in July, the BoJ had expressed its sternest warning on rising price pressure in years, despite having left interest rates unchanged. Since exiting a massive 10-year stimulus program in 2024, the Bank of Japan has raised interest rates roughly twice a year, most recently in June when it pushed rates to a 31-year high of 1%. For more information: Trump must help Japan's finance minister Takaichi out of the yen trap.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
