AdvertisementAdvertisementBusinessTraffic signs in front of the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, Japan, June 15, 2026. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon25 Jun 2026 09:39AM Bookmark Bookmark WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedInAdd CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results.Read a summary of this article on FAST.Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try.Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FASTFAST KOBE, Japan, June 25 : The Bank of Japan should raise interest rates at a pace of once every few months to push them towards levels deemed neutral to the economy, hawkish board member Naoki Tamura said on Thursday.In a speech, Tamura estimated that Japan's neutral rate lies somewhere around 2 per cent, which is higher than the BOJ's current policy rate of 1 per cent.Tamura said he expects inflationary pressures to heighten regardless of developments in the Middle East conflict.The pass-through of recent rises in import prices could occur more quickly, significantly and broadly than in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 due to changes in companies' price-setting behaviour, he said."Considering the recent increase in upside risks to prices, what I envisage as a baseline path is raising the policy interest rate by 0.25 per centage points at intervals of a few months toward the neutral interest rate level of 2 per cent," Tamura said."If the chance of upside price risks materialising heightens, it's necessary to accelerate the pace of rate hikes without hesitation by increasing the frequency or size of rate hikes," he said.Source: ReutersNewsletterWeek in ReviewSubscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in ReviewOur chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.Sign up for our newslettersGet our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inboxSubscribe hereGet the CNA appStay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best storiesDownload hereGet WhatsApp alertsJoin our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat appJoin hereAlso worth readingContent is loading...Expand to read the full storyGet bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try.Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FASTFAST