The Bank of Japan raised its key interest rate to about 0.5% from 0.25% Friday, noting that inflation is holding at a desirable target level. “The economy is gradually recovering,” BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda told reporters after a two-day policy board meeting in Tokyo.

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.

The return of inflation and wage growth is giving the Bank of Japan room to raise interest rates and declare the end of a long period of stagnation.

In a widely anticipated move, the Bank of Japan on Jan. 24 raised its short-term policy rate to 0.50% from 0.25%. Read more here.

The Bank of Japan raised interest rates on Friday to their highest since the 2008 global financial crisis and revised up its inflation forecasts, underscoring its confidence that rising wages will keep inflation stable around its 2% target.

Recent data show Japanese workers are gaining better wages and are generally set to receive solid pay raises in their upcoming annual union negotiations

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The Bank of Japan hiked interest rates on Friday ... in recent months following Trump's election and bets the Federal Reserve will slow down its interest rate cut campaign this year.

Japan’s stance is at odds with the loosening trends adopted by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, which have been cutting rates after raising them to clamp down on inflation.

The Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) is a Partnership between the Government of Japan (GoJ) and the World Bank conceived in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. It was established in June 2000 as a grant mechanism to provide ...

Shares were mixed in thin Asian trading on Monday after U.S. stocks edged back from their all-time high. Oil prices fell and U.S. futures sank, while Chinese shares shed some of their early gains after a survey of manufacturers showed export orders dropping to a five-month low.

Sterling was little changed versus the euro and the dollar and fell sharply against the yen as investors shifted their focus to economic data and central bank policy meetings later this week.