Bank of Japan holds rates at 0.25%, yen weakens

The Bank of Japan on Thursday held its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.25%.

The decision comes a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points, bringing the federal funds rate to 4.25%-4.5%.

The yen weakened 0.16% against the dollar after the rate decision, trading at 155.06.

The BOJ said in its statement that the decision to hold was a split 8-1 decision, with board member Naoki Tamura advocating for a 25-basis-points hike.

The BOJ’s decision was in line with a CNBC poll, which showed that 13 out of 24 economists expected the BOJ to keep its key interest rate unchanged in December before raising the rate at the next meeting in January.

The survey was conducted between Dec. 9-13, before the Fed signaled that there would be fewer rate cuts in 2025.

A Dec. 13 note from Citi forecast that the BOJ will hike three times in 2025, bringing the rate to 1%.

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