Bessent declines to advise Bank of Japan on rate increases

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had been vocally advocating for tighter Japanese monetary policy, refrained from offering direct advice when asked point-blank whether the Bank of Japan should raise rates again. During an NHK interview in early August, Bessent said he would not advise BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda on whether to pursue back-to-back rate increases. He cited respect for the central bank’s independence and expressed confidence in Ueda’s ability to navigate Japan’s economic landscape. From megaphone to microphone off From roughly October 2025 through mid-2026, Bessent repeatedly urged the Japanese government to let the BoJ operate with greater autonomy, a not-so-subtle way of saying “let them raise rates.” The BoJ hiked its policy rate to 0.75% in December 2025 and has since moved it up to 1%. Market participants have been speculating about further increases in September or October 2026, which made the NHK interviewer’s question about back-to-back hikes particularly timely. The yen, the intervention, and the politics US and Japanese officials conducted a joint currency intervention around July 31 to August 1, 2026, a rare coordinated move aimed at propping up the yen....