Agency: Due to rapidly increasing uncertainty, it is expected that the Bank of Japan will maintain interest rates unchanged next week.

Japanese Monex Securities pointed out that due to the sharp increase in global uncertainty, the Bank of Japan is almost certain to maintain its policy interest rate next week. The impact of President Trump's tariff policy on April 2 has already stifled the prospect of further interest rate hikes in the short term by the Bank of Japan. The focus of the meeting may be on the outlook report. Inflation remains high, and wage negotiations confirm that price pressures are still rooted in wage growth dynamics. How policymakers strike a balance between inflation and increasing global uncertainty will be crucial in determining the future path of interest rates. We still expect the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates again later this year, but we currently have low confidence in a rate hike in September. We will reassess this prediction after the meeting.