Bank of Japan raises rates to 0.5%

February 21, 2007
By Ken Worsley

By an 8-1 vote, the Bank of Japan decided today to raise the overnight monthly call rate from 0.25% to 0.50%. Deputy Governor Kazumasu Iwata cast the lone dissenting vote to the bank’s decision.

The BOJ’s actions are outlined in its “Change in the Guideline for Money Market Operations,” The full report, entitled “The Bank’s View” will be released in Japanese tomorrow and in English on February 23. Meeting minutes are set to be released on Monday, March 26.

At any rate (and no matter what the BOJ would have done), this means the “carry trade” can continue without much hindrance. Actually, my favorite misleading headline for this story (which we’re sure to see somewhere) would be: “BOJ votes to continue carry trade; interest rates up 0.25%”

Filed Under Bank of Japan, Interest Rates