The Japanese flag flutters over the Bank of Japan head office building in Tokyo on April 27, 2022. Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images
Japan’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest level in three decades, taking another step away from its long-standing ultra-loose monetary policy as officials seek to rein in persistent inflation pressures driven by rising wages and prices.
At a two-day monetary policy meeting on Dec. 18–19, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) voted unanimously to raise its short-term policy rate by 25 basis points, bringing it to about 0.75 percent. The move lifts borrowing costs to their highest level since September 1995.
