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Bank of Japan ends negative interest rate era, and other economic stories to read this week
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has ended eight years of negative interest rates, representing the country's first interest rate increase in nearly two decades. Rates remain around zero, though, with the BoJ's overnight call rate set as its new policy rate, which is in a range of 0-0.1%. "We reverted to a normal monetary policy targeting short-term interest rates, as with other central banks," BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said at a press conference after the decision. "If trend inflation heightens a bit more, that may lead to an increase in short-term rates," he added but did not comment on the timing or pace of further rate ... (full story)