Mizuho: Japanese banking activity remains stable, providing support for a possible interest rate hike.

Yusuke Matsuo, an economist at Mizuho Securities, stated that the Bank of Japan may raise interest rates in the near future. His reasons are that recent indicators suggest that the escalation of Middle East risks has not caused major issues for Japan's banking system or corporate financing needs. He added that although most people expect the Bank of Japan to maintain its policy rate at 0.75% next week, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda may try to maintain expectations of a rate hike in June at the post-meeting press conference in order to minimize the risk of further depreciation of the Japanese yen.