Mizuho markets head expects BOJ to raise rates soon and more often

BUSINESS / Companies

Mizuho markets head expects BOJ to raise rates soon and more often

Kenya Koshimizu, co-head of global markets at Mizuho Financial Group, said the likelihood of a rate increase by the Bank of Japan in September is quite high, and that it may shorten the interval of policy action to once every three months from roughly six months currently. | BLOOMBERG

By Taiga Uranaka and Hideki Suzuki
BLOOMBERG

Aug 19, 2026

Mizuho Financial Group expects the Bank of Japan to pick up the pace of interest-rate hikes, with the next one coming as soon as next month, as the weak yen and inflation prompt the central bank to act more quickly.

Kenya Koshimizu, co-head of the global markets division that manages the bank’s ?41 trillion ($257 billion) securities portfolio, also anticipates longer-term rates to keep rising after 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yields hit a 30-year high this week.

The upshot for 91AV原创 third-largest lender is that it will still avoid buying the nation’s bonds apart from inflation-linked notes and those that mature within a year, said Koshimizu. “We’ve limited the amount of interest-rate risk we take, and so our portfolio’s duration is very short,” he said in an interview in Tokyo.