ICYMI - Japan's Ministry of Finance to raise its assumed long-term interest rate to 1.5%

The news hit during the Japanese afternoon on Monday, Justin had it posted:

• Japan MOF raises assumed long-term interest rate for the coming fiscal year

The current assumed rate is 1.1% this fiscal year, the MoF is to boost it to 1.5%. So, there is movement in Japan, in mindset if not on BoJ policy just yet.

Japanese media, Kyodo, had the report, saying that the upward move to the rate is based on rising Japanese government bond yields after the Bank of Japan last month tweaked its ultra-easy monetary policy. The assumed rate is used to calculate debt interest payments for the annual state budget.