[Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation: Bank of Japan May Still Raise Interest Rates in April] Jin10 News, April 15 – Due to uncertainties in the Middle East situation, market expectations for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates in April are weakening. However, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation predicts that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates to 1% this month. The institution believes that a 1% interest rate is still slightly below the Bank of Japan's estimated neutral rate range—a level that is neither restrictive nor stimulative, and neither contractionary nor expansionary for the economy. If the rate hike is delayed, raising rates when inflation is already on a downward trend would be difficult to justify. It is expected that as food price growth slows, Japan's inflation rate will decline further.