Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said Wednesday the central bank's interest rate hike will not significantly damage the economy, adding that it is more focused on the risk of a weakening yen accelerating inflation.
The BOJ raised its key short-term rate to around 0.25 percent from a range of zero to 0.1 percent at the end of a two-day policy meeting. It also decided to slow the pace of government bond buying in a further shift toward policy normalization.
The rate hike, the BOJ's second in four months, came despite Ueda still seeing "some distance" before achieving its 2 percent inflation goal.
At a press conference, he did not rule out the possibility that the bank would sanction another rate hike within 2024, saying it will closely monitor economic data to see if such a need exists.
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