Moody's: Bank of Japan expected to remain on hold this week

Odaily Odaily News: Moody's Analytics said in a report that it expects the Bank of Japan to remain on hold at its monetary policy meetings on September 19 and 20. Although the Bank of Japan tightened policy faster than expected and hinted that further rate hikes may be possible, Moody's does not expect the next rate hike to be until October. The report said that due to sluggish consumer spending and exports, it is difficult for the Japanese economy to escape the gloom. "Inflation will rise sharply in the short term as the government reduces assistance for household energy bills before introducing new support measures," Moody's said, predicting that the core inflation rate will accelerate from 2.7% in July to 2.9% in August. (Jinshi)