[Strong Demand for Corporate Loans in Japan May Leave Room for Further Rate Hikes by the Bank of Japan] Jin10 News, October 22 – A survey released by the Bank of Japan on Thursday showed that corporate borrowers at Japan's major banks have increased their demand for funds compared to three months ago. This indicates that recent rate hikes have not yet hindered lending activities. Ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy meeting next week, the data further reinforces the prevailing market view that the central bank will continue raising the current 1.25% interest rate level to mitigate the risk of inflation exceeding its target. Shigeto Nagai, Head of Japan Economics at Oxford Economics, stated: "The overall resilience of the Japanese economy to rising interest rates may enable the Bank of Japan to further raise the policy rate above 1.75%, thereby preventing further depreciation of the yen and avoiding the risk of inflation expectations becoming unanchored."