Japan's government on Friday brushed aside rare and explicit comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who said the Bank of Japan was "behind the curve" on policy, which appeared to be aimed at pressuring the country's central bank into raising interest rates.

They’re behind the curve,” Bessent told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday, noting that that was his opinion, and that he discussed inflation in Japan with BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda. “So they’re going to be hiking and they need to get their inflation problem under control,

Despite a solid H1, we maintain our 2025 growth forecast at 0.8%, as downside growth risks to activity may start to kick in from Q4." "Our house view is for the next BoJ hike in Q4 with risks skewed towards an October move,