Nomura Securities: Middle East tensions add reasons for Bank of Japan to raise interest rates in April

Golden Ten Data reported on March 19 that Wilcox, Head of Wholesale Business at Nomura Holdings, stated that despite the shadow cast on the economic outlook by the impact of the Iran war, he still expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates next month. He believes that the Middle East conflict makes an April rate hike more likely. Japan has, in any case, embarked on the path of monetary policy normalization, so we have always expected a rate hike this year. Considering the uncertainty in the Middle East situation, Wilcox is not certain whether the Bank of Japan will continue to raise rates after April. One factor Japanese policymakers need to consider is the impact of yen depreciation on inflation.