Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda continued to prepare the ground for the nation’s first interest rate increase since 2007 with another round of comments that further build the case for a move in the spring while not ruling out the less probable option of a January hike. “It’s possible to make some decisions even if the bank doesn’t have the full results of spring wage negotiations from small- and middle-sized businesses,” the governor said in an interview with public broadcaster NHK released Wednesday. The latest comments from the governor, in a busy week of signaling from the central bank, suggest the BOJ may be ... (full story)