Golden Finance reported that the Bank of America revised its forecast for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates, adjusting the time for raising interest rates from March to January (that is, this week). The bank currently expects the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.50% at its policy meeting on Friday. A March interest rate hike had been the Bank of America's preferred forecast because it would give the Bank of Japan more time to evaluate the policies of the new U.S. administration. However, strong price data and the possibility that the Bank of Japan's Board of Governors may need to revise its inflation forecast prompted Bank of America to adjust its rate hike forecast to January. Bank of America added that recent hawkish comments from senior officials, including Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda and Deputy Governor Himino Ryozo Miwa, also partly contributed to the change. (Golden Ten)