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 TOKYO (AP) - Encouraged by signs of robust economic growth, Japan's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to 0.5 percent on Wednesday, judging that price stability and consumer spending would withstand slightly tighter credit.
The Bank of Japan's decision, which came at the end of a two-day monetary policy board meeting, highlights confidence in the continuing moderate recovery in the world's second-largest economy. The vote among the nine-member board was 8-1 in favor of the hike, the bank said in a statement.
"The bank thinks that even if prices drop, that won't cripple economic growth, and conditions were ripe for a rate hike," said Takeo Okuhara, bond strategist at Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo. "The bank made the right choice."
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