Japan Rapid Response Japan Retail Sales & Industrial Production (Jan. 26) On balance, the January activity and inflation figures suggest that the BoJ won’t wait much longer before hiking rates again. · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Flash PMIs (Feb. 26) With the composite PMI rising to a three-year high in February, the recent sluggishness in economic activity should be followed by a marked recovery in the first half of this year. · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Consumer Prices (Jan. 2026) With price pressures showing signs of softening, the Bank of Japan won’t be in a rush to resume its hiking cycle. However, we still believe conditions will be in place for the Bank to raise rates by... · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Labour Cash Earnings (Dec. 2025) Wage growth edged up a notch towards the end of last year, and we think it will gain further momentum in the months ahead. Accordingly, the Bank of Japan is likely to press ahead with additional... · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Retail Sales & Industrial Production (Dec.) Although activity indicators for December were relatively soft, they won’t have prevented the economy from bouncing back across Q4 as a whole. Moreover, there are still reasons to be cautiously... · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Bank of Japan Meeting (Jan. 26) The Bank of Japan sounded more optimistic when it left policy settings unchanged today and there’s a chance that it could raise rates earlier than our current forecast of July. The Bank’s decision to... · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Consumer Prices (December 2025) With underlying inflation price pressures remaining firm, we expect the Bank of Japan to resume its tightening cycle in the coming months. · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Labour Cash Earnings (Nov. 25) The sharp slowdown in wage growth in November was largely due to volatile bonus payments and a rebound over the first half of next year is very likely. · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Industrial Production & Retail Sales (Nov. 2025) At first glance, the November activity data appear to be a mixed bag. However, a look under the hood suggests that the economy is poised to rebound firmly from its Q3 contraction. · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Bank of Japan Meeting (Dec. 2025) The Bank of Japan’s decision to raise interest rates at its meeting today was clearly signalled ahead of time and therefore came as no surprise. Crucially, however, the Board’s hawkish messaging... · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Consumer Prices (November 2025) With inflation still running hot, the Bank of Japan is certain to resume its tightening cycle at its meeting later today. Moreover, we think there’s a compelling case for the Bank to lift rates... · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Bank of Japan will lift its policy rate this month In response to a hawkish speech by Governor Ueda today, we now expect the Bank of Japan to lift its policy rate to 0.75% at its upcoming meeting that ends on 19 th December instead of our previous... · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Retail Sales & Industrial Production (Oct. 25) Strong increases in industrial production and retail sales in October suggest that Japan’s economy at least stopped contracting this quarter. · 2 mins read
