BOJ Seen Raising Interest Rates Gradually: IMF Economist

   Washington, July 29 (Jiji Press)--The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates gradually until the end of 2026 amid rising inflation in the country, International Monetary Fund chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said Tuesday.
   In its World Economic Outlook report released the same day, the IMF said that Japan's consumer inflation is seen reaching 3.3 pct in 2025, exceeding the Japanese central bank's target of 2 pct.
   Noting that Japan's current inflation "is related to things like an increase in the price of processed foods or rice," Gourinchas told a press conference that the higher prices are forecast to prove "temporary."
   Still, he said, "In this environment of inflation above central bank targets for some time now, the expectation is that the Bank of Japan will continue to gradually raise interest rates...in the course of...the end of next year."
   He also said that Japan's economic growth rate has been raised slightly after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump last week set his country's tariffs on Japan at a level lower than planned in April, when the IMF estimated Japan's growth for 2025 at 0.6 pct.

(2025/07/30-10:02)

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