By Leika Kihara and Makiko Yamazaki
TOKYO (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan raised interest rates on Friday to their highest since the 2008 global financial crisis and revised up its inflation forecasts, underscoring its confidence that rising wages will keep inflation stable around its 2% target.
The decision marks its first rate hike since July last year and comes days after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who is likely to keep global policymakers vigilant ahead of potential repercussions from threatened higher tariffs.
BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda told a news conference that the weak yen continued to put upward pressure on import prices, while wage hikes were becoming more embedded and broad-based among companies.
“We have not preset idea,” he said on the timing of the next rate hike, saying the BOJ will make a decision on a meeting-to-meeting basis by looking at data available at the time.
At its two-day meeting…
