PANews reported on June 3 that Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda, in his final regular speech ahead of a highly anticipated policy meeting, stated that the Bank of Japan needs to continue raising interest rates based on the economic situation and inflation. Ueda said, "For example, if the central bank judges that the likelihood of achieving the baseline scenario—that is, the tensions in the Middle East will gradually ease, and the underlying inflation rate will gradually rise to around 2% against the backdrop of moderate economic growth—then I believe the central bank will continue to raise the policy rate at an appropriate pace." His remarks suggest that a rate hike this month is highly likely, although his wording was not as explicit as during the previous two rate hikes. This indicates that Ueda hopes to maintain a degree of flexibility given the increasingly complex and uncertain situation in the Middle East, and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's stance on monetary policy.