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.

In a well-trailed move, the Bank of Japan on Friday raised the policy rate by 0.25 percentage points, taking it to 0.5 per cent — its highest level in nearly two decades.

Good morning. The Bank of Japan raises its interest rate to the highest level in 17 years. Inflation concerns may be making a comeback in the euro area. And the rise of women’s soccer in England is hiding a financial struggle.

The yen strengthened and Japanese government bond yields rose to fresh multi-year highs on Friday after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates as expected and raised its inflation forecasts.

The Bank of Japan delivered a widely expected 25 basis point hike to its key lending rate on Friday, bringing the overnight call rate to the highest since 2008 and putting pressure on the dollar. The ICE Dollar Index slipped 0.

Japan’s central bank has hiked interest rates as expected to a 17-year high as it continues on a path to normalise its monetary policy. On Friday (Jan 24), the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised short-term rates by 25 basis points to 0.5 per cent, its highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The Bank of Japan has raised short-term interest rates by a quarter point, the highest in 17 years, signalling efforts to normalise monetary policy in response to persistent inflation and increasing wages.

In the eyes of Japanese economic policymakers, there have been few surprises from the nearly week-old Trump administration. That, in part, gave them confidence to raise interest rates again Friday. Why it matters: The Bank of Japan had held off hiking rates late last year,

Top News Bank of Japan Resumes Hiking Rates as Economy Strengthens The Bank of Japan raised its target for the overnight call rate to 0.5% from 0.25%, making its third rate hike since ending its long-running negative interest-rate policy in March. The bank previously raised the policy rate to 0.25% in July and had kept it at that level since.

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It is the highest level since October 2008 as the economy makes steady progress toward the bank’s goal of stable 2% inflation and wage-backed growth.