Mizuho: The Bank of Japan may hike rates as early as September, with policy intervals possibly shortened to three months.

1. Kenya Koshimizu, Co-Head of Global Markets at Mizuho Financial Group, stated that the Bank of Japan could raise interest rates as early as next month, with a “relatively high” probability of action in September. A weakened yen and persistent inflationary pressures are the main factors driving the central bank to tighten monetary policy more quickly. 2. Koshimizu pointed out that the Bank of Japan may shorten the interval between policy actions from the current approximately six months to once every three months, emphasizing that “once the shift to action every three months occurs, it will be difficult to slow down the pace.” He noted that the current policy rate of 1%—after accounting for inflation—“still remains clearly in negative territory,” which supports the case for speeding up the pace of rate hikes.