Sumitomo Mitsui Trust: Bank of Japan will keep interest rates unchanged this week

Golden Ten Data reported on March 18 that Mitsui Sumitomo Trust economist Kei Fujimoto stated that the Bank of Japan is expected to keep its policy rate at 0.75% this week. The Bank of Japan will focus on how rising crude oil prices are driving up the costs of petrochemical products and other commodities that use crude oil as a raw material, as well as how these cost pressures are transmitted to domestic prices. Although the increase in crude oil prices will directly push up energy prices such as gasoline in the short term, such temporary fluctuations are unlikely to prompt the central bank to raise interest rates ahead of schedule.