Former BOJ Official forecasts May rate hike pause due to Trump's trade policies

Former Bank of Japan official Kenzo Yamamoto announced a probable pause in interest rate hikes at the next BOJ meeting in May. The expert's forecast is due to the likely negative impact of Trump's policies on the economy of the Asian country.

Yamamoto believes that until trade relations between the United States and Japan become clearer, the central bank will take a wait-and-see approach, taking its time to make a decision on monetary policy. Japan's government expressed its willingness to negotiate with the United States. The outlook for national currencies of the two countries will be one of the key topics on the agenda.

Since the beginning of this year, the yen has strengthened against the dollar by 10% due to a progressive increase in market demand for safe-haven assets, Bloomberg reports. The dollar's status as the world's reserve currency, in turn, has been shaken. Donald Trump's unpredictable trade policy has had a negative impact not only on the economic growth of other countries, but also on US own performance.