PANews reported on October 17th that Reuters reported that Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida stated that the BOJ will continue to raise interest rates if Japan's economic and inflation trends meet the central bank's forecasts. At a meeting of Japan's credit portfolio, he emphasized that the central bank will make decisions after carefully assessing domestic and international economic, price, and financial market developments without preconceived positions. The BOJ's next interest rate decision is scheduled for the 30th of this month.

This means the Bank of Japan remains data-driven and has yet to decide whether to raise interest rates at its October meeting. Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated the day before that the central bank will determine its next steps based on the sustainability of economic and wage growth, and will continue to collect and review economic and price data. Ueda stated that if the likelihood of achieving the expected economic growth and inflation outlook increases, the central bank will continue to raise interest rates as planned. Japan's benchmark interest rate currently stands at 0.5%, and most analysts expect the central bank to raise it to 0.75% by January of next year.