BOJ’s Tamura: The pace of rate hikes may not necessarily be once every half a year

• Not focusing on the fact that policy rate hasn’t touched 0.75% in the past 30 years
• Will raise interest rates in stages in line with likelihood of achieving inflation target
• Will decide whether inflation target is achieved from various indicators

As things stand, traders are only pricing in the next rate hike to come around July or September at the earliest. But if the status quo remains and markets keep the calm, the odds of it being earlier rather than later are definitely higher. For now, I’ll just say to wait and see what the narrative will be after the spring wage negotiations in March.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.