The Bank of Japan will likely raise interest rates again around June or July, and seek to hike its policy rate to at least 1.5% in the next two years, former BOJ board member Makoto Sakurai said on Tuesday.

The Bank of Japan is likely to have two women on its decision-making board for the first time, marking a modest step toward improving gender diversity at the central bank as it struggles to catch up with global peers.

Giving explicit advance signals, in addition to making the Bank of Japan feel boxed in, could breach Japanese law stipulating the nine-member board must debate and sign off on rate decisions at each policy meeting.

Japan's central bank has raised its key interest rate to about 0.5% from 0.25%, noting that inflation is holding at a desirable target level.

Japan's central bank has increased the cost of borrowing to its highest level in 17 years, after consumer price rises accelerated last year. The move by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to raise its short-term policy rate to 0.5% comes just hours after the latest economic data showed prices rose last month at the fastest pace in 16 months.

World shares advanced Friday after U.S. stocks rose to a record and the Bank of Japan raised its key lending rate.

The BOJ fumbled its communication in December, surprising investors, but then telegraphed Friday's increase so unambiguously that the rate hike was 90% priced in.

The Bank of Japan, after clearly signalling last week's interest rate hike, may return to its accustomed fuzzy guidance about central bank policy to maintain flexibility when it eventually begins to consider how much tightening is enough.

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.

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.

The Bank of Japan's latest interest rate hike could boost net interest margins at the nation's lenders. In a widely anticipated move, the Bank of Japan on Jan. 24 raised its short-term policy rate ...