Odaily Planet Daily News: Former Bank of Japan board member Makoto Sakurai said that the Bank of Japan is not expected to raise interest rates again this year, given the recent rate hikes that have caused market turmoil and the low possibility of a rapid economic recovery. "The central bank will not raise interest rates again at least for the rest of the year," Makoto Sakurai said in an interview last Friday. "It is not ruled out that there will be another rate hike before the end of March next year." Recent market turmoil and the Bank of Japan's response have made market participants wary of the outlook. Money market pricing shows that the possibility of the Bank of Japan raising interest rates this year has dropped significantly. Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida promised not to raise interest rates when the market is unstable. "In the process of normalizing monetary policy, the central bank has raised interest rates from near zero to 0.25%, which is a good decision," said Makoto Sakurai. He added that this step is energy-intensive, so the central bank should wait and see for a while on the issue of further rate hikes. (Global Market Report)