The Bank of Japan, after clearly signalling last week's interest rate hike, may return to its accustomed fuzzy guidance about central bank policy to maintain flexibility when it eventually begins to consider how much tightening is enough.

The Bank of Japan raised interest rates on Friday to their highest since the 2008 global financial crisis and revised up its inflation forecasts, underscoring its confidence that rising wages will keep inflation stable around its 2% target.

The Bank of Japan has raised short-term interest rates by a quarter point, the highest in 17 years, signalling efforts to normalise monetary policy in response to persistent inflation and increasing wages.

The BOJ fumbled its communication in December, surprising investors, but then telegraphed Friday's increase so unambiguously that the rate hike was 90% priced in.

Japan's central bank has increased the cost of borrowing to its highest level in 17 years after consumer price rises accelerated in December. The move by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to raise its short-term policy rate to "around 0.5 per cent" comes just hours after the latest economic data showed prices rose last month at the fastest pace in 16 months.

In a well-trailed move, the Bank of Japan on Friday raised the policy rate by 0.25 percentage points, taking it to 0.5 per cent — its highest level in nearly two decades.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has raised its key short-term interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.5%, marking the highest level since 2008.

The Bank of Japan delivered a widely expected 25 basis point hike to its key lending rate on Friday, bringing the overnight call rate to the highest since 2008 and putting pressure on the dollar. The ICE Dollar Index slipped 0.

Global economic policymakers had been braced for an economic firestorm from the new U.S. administration but instead got a surprisingly restrained start from Donald Trump, who remains big on rhetoric but more cautious on action - for now.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Global economic policymakers had been braced for an economic firestorm from the new U.S. administration but instead got a surprisingly restrained start from Donald Trump, who remains big on rhetoric but more cautious on action - for now.

The yen and Swiss franc jumped against major currencies on Monday in a rush for safe-haven assets as tech stocks plunged, with investors weighing the implications of a Chinese startup launching a free open-source artificial intelligence model.