US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said that Japan’s central bank is falling “behind the curve” on inflation and will probably have to raise interest rates, in a rare swipe by a senior official at the monetary policy of another country.
“The Japanese have an inflation problem?.?.?.?They’re behind the curve so they are going to be hiking and they need to get their inflation problem under control,” Bessent told Bloomberg TV, comments that stood in contrast to the position of Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda.
Bessent’s comments on Wednesday reflected concerns about rising US long-term bond yields, which he suggested were being affected by those in Germany and Japan. He also said that he had spoken to Ueda about the matter.