The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to around 1.25% and announced the decision following its Monetary Policy Meeting. After the announcement, the yen weakened in the foreign exchange market, while market attention increased during Governor Ueda Kazuo (植田 和男)'s press conference regarding the outlook for further rate hikes.
The Bank of Japan held its Monetary Policy Meeting through the 18th and decided to raise its policy rate from the current level of around 1.0% to around 1.25%. This marks the first rate hike since June 2026 and represents a faster pace than the previous pattern of roughly one hike every six months.
Market attention turned to the pace of future rate hikes. Governor Ueda Kazuo (植田 和男) said, "There are various possibilities depending on price developments," indicating a policy of not ruling out any particular approach in advance, but he did not clearly indicate the pace of rate hikes itself.
In the foreign exchange market, the yen reacted after the rate hike was announced, with selling pressure intensifying around noon and the yen briefly weakening into the ¥158 range.
The yen was reported to have weakened further at times after the press conference, and market attention is focused on the future course of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy.