BoJ to bring forward interest rate hikes post election – BofA Securities in World Economy News 11/02/2026 Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi now has a popular mandate to revitalise the country’s economy, and Bank of America Securities has revised its view on the likely speed of rate hikes by the Bank of Japan as a result. Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party won more than two-thirds of seats in parliament’s lower house on Sunday, giving her free rein to pass her agenda without negotiating with other parties or having to seek upper house approval. “We revise our forecasts for the BoJ’s rate hikes,” said analysts at Bank of America securities, in a note dated Feb. 10. “Previously, we had expected the next rate hike to come at the June MPM, followed by a pace of roughly one hike every six months, reaching a terminal rate of 1.5% by end-2027. “Under our new forecasts, we expect the next rate hike to occur at the April MPM, followed by one hike every four to five months, reaching a terminal rate of 1.75% by end-2027 (we now forecast 25bp hikes in April ‘26, September ‘26, January ‘27, and July ‘27.) The background of this revision is that the BoJ’s assessment of the risk balance around the economic and price outlook has changed significantly since last autumn. As the “underlying inflation rate” approaches 2% and downside risks to the economy recede, the Bank of Japan has turned more vigilant toward yen-driven upside inflation risks. “The LDP’s landslide victory in the Lower House election is also expected to reinforce this view,” BofA added. The BoJ is likely to raise the policy rate from the current 0.75% to 1.0% in April, based on the 1Q economic data, FY2026 Shunto results, and the April price revisions, the U.S. bank said. A March hike is also possible, but without data support it would largely serve to stem yen depreciation and would occur only if USD/JPY remains around ¥160 even after FX intervention. The pace of subsequent rate hikes is also likely to accelerate from the previously assumed “once every six months” to “once every four to five months.” “The largest risks to our outlook for BoJ rate hikes stem from the global economy and/or FX developments. Further yen depreciation would lead to even earlier hikes, whereas yen appreciation or a slowdown in the global economy would prompt more cautious hikes,” BofA added. Source: Investing.com 2026-02-11 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share