Former Japan finance ministry official and ex-Asian Development Bank president
Takehiko Nakao said on Monday the Bank of Japan should raise rates at every
policy meeting, targeting a policy rate above 2% to narrow the Japan–US yield
gap and ease yen weakness. He added that even with a 1% policy rate Japan’s real
rate remains negative while peers’ real rates are positive, and that with
inflation around 2% a policy rate of about 2.25–2.5% would not be unusual.
