1. Reuters poll: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, with 60% of economists surveyed predicting a rate hike to 1% by the end of June.
2. ANZ: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged but will release hawkish signals, with a 25 basis point rate hike to 1% expected in April.
3. DBS Bank: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, possibly preferring to wait for the outcome of wage negotiations this spring; June-July presents a more suitable window for a rate hike than April.
4. Capital Economics: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, with rising wages supporting a rate hike, but the Iranian conflict is the biggest variable, potentially delaying the rate hike further.
5. Daiwa Securities: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged; whether it raises rates in April could be a crucial turning point in determining market confidence in its commitment to tightening policies.
6. Allianz Group: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged. Kazuo Ueda may maintain the possibility of an April rate hike, while adding data-dependent conditions to hedge against any external shocks.
7. Mitsubishi UFJ: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, with a possible rate hike in April. Geopolitical risks have become the new normal, and stabilizing the yen exchange rate is becoming increasingly important for Japan.
8. Sumitomo Mitsui: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, focusing on how rising oil prices will push up costs for petrochemical products and other oil-based commodities, and how these costs will be transmitted domestically.
9. Moody's Analytics: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, but may raise them to 1% around mid-year. Further weakening of the yen could prompt the central bank to raise rates later this year.
10. Natixis: The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged and maintain a hawkish stance to avoid disrupting spring wage negotiations, while maintaining a tightening bias to alleviate new imported inflationary pressures.
