BoJ likely to raise rates next week, barring major market rout following Trump inauguration – Bloomberg
Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing several unnamed people, that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is expected to raise interest rates next week, barring a major market rout following US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The Japanese Yen witnessed a fresh leg lower to near 155.20 against the US Dollar following this report, with USD/JPY now recovering some losses to trade at 155.60, still down 0.50% on the day.
Japanese Yen PRICE Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies today. Japanese Yen was the strongest against the British Pound.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.06% | 0.13% | -0.56% | 0.12% | 0.10% | 0.03% | -0.04% | |
| EUR | -0.06% | 0.07% | -0.62% | 0.06% | 0.03% | -0.03% | -0.10% | |
| GBP | -0.13% | -0.07% | -0.68% | -0.01% | -0.03% | -0.10% | -0.17% | |
| JPY | 0.56% | 0.62% | 0.68% | 0.68% | 0.66% | 0.54% | 0.53% | |
| CAD | -0.12% | -0.06% | 0.01% | -0.68% | -0.02% | -0.09% | -0.16% | |
| AUD | -0.10% | -0.03% | 0.03% | -0.66% | 0.02% | -0.07% | -0.13% | |
| NZD | -0.03% | 0.03% | 0.10% | -0.54% | 0.09% | 0.07% | -0.07% | |
| CHF | 0.04% | 0.10% | 0.17% | -0.53% | 0.16% | 0.13% | 0.07% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent JPY (base)/USD (quote).
Bank of Japan FAQs
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is the Japanese central bank, which sets monetary policy in the country. Its mandate is to issue banknotes and carry out currency and monetary control to ensure price stability, which means an inflation target of around 2%.
The Bank of Japan embarked in an ultra-loose monetary policy in 2013 in order to stimulate the economy and fuel inflation amid a low-inflationary environment. The bank’s policy is based on Quantitative and Qualitative Easing (QQE), or printing notes to buy assets such as government or corporate bonds to provide liquidity. In 2016, the bank doubled down on its strategy and further loosened policy by first introducing negative interest rates and then directly controlling the yield of its 10-year government bonds. In March 2024, the BoJ lifted interest rates, effectively retreating from the ultra-loose monetary policy stance.
The Bank’s massive stimulus caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers. This process exacerbated in 2022 and 2023 due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks, which opted to increase interest rates sharply to fight decades-high levels of inflation. The BoJ’s policy led to a widening differential with other currencies, dragging down the value of the Yen. This trend partly reversed in 2024, when the BoJ decided to abandon its ultra-loose policy stance.
A weaker Yen and the spike in global energy prices led to an increase in Japanese inflation, which exceeded the BoJ’s 2% target. The prospect of rising salaries in the country – a key element fuelling inflation – also contributed to the move.