Bank of Japan rate hike plans “face political curve ball”

We’ve been following along with the political machinations in Japan that, net, are pushing back against BOJ rate hike plans.

Reuters posted this piece late last week, ICYMI, and have updated it today.

Worth a read for a summary of where the politics of rate hikes in Japan is at:

• Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda’s efforts to lift rock-bottom borrowing costs face fresh challenges as a yen rebound and the new political leadership’s preference for loose monetary policy raise the hurdle for rate hikes.

Yes, indeed. Combine this with super-strong jobs data from the US on Friday nad USD/JPY rose above 149.00 in the early hours. The new ‘Mr. Yen’ is attempting initial verbal intervention:

• Japan’s yen intervention official says will monitor FX including speculative movement

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.