The Governor of the Bank of Japan's speech leans toward the "hawkish" side. If the economy continues to develop as expected, the central bank will further raise interest rates. The specific decision will be made after assessing the impact of this rate hike.

**December 19 – Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told an afternoon monetary policy press conference today that Japan’s economy is showing mild weakness but remains in a modest recovery. The BOJ will keep raising its policy rate if the economy and prices improve as expected.** **The latest hike pushes Japan’s benchmark interest rate from 0.50% to 0.75% — the highest level since 1995, ending the country’s 30-year era of ultra-low rates. Kuroda noted the 30-year short-term rate high has no special meaning, adding the BOJ will closely track the latest rate change’s impact.** **For future moves, Kuroda said the pace of monetary adjustment depends on economic, price and financial outlooks. There’s still a gap from the lower end of the neutral interest rate range, and the BOJ hasn’t seen the strong tightening effect seen in prior hikes. The central bank will decide on further hikes after evaluating how the 0.75% rate affects the economy and prices; a hike is possible if wage gains keep feeding into prices.**