Survey: Most economists expect the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates to 1.50% in April

1. The survey shows that 69% of surveyed economists expect the Bank of Japan to raise its benchmark interest rate to 1.50% in April, a significant increase from 36% in the September survey. 2. The survey also shows that 72% of surveyed economists believe that dissenting votes against the Bank of Japan's rate hike may weaken the yen. 3. In addition, 65% of surveyed economists expect that the Japanese government's new bond issuance in fiscal year 2027 will remain below 40 trillion yen.