[Capital Economics: Slowing Wage Growth in Japan Unlikely to Prevent BOJ Rate Hikes] Jin10 Data, July 7 — Abhijit Surya, Senior Asia-Pacific Economist at Capital Economics, stated that the slowdown in Japan's wage growth in May is unlikely to prevent the Bank of Japan (BOJ) from further raising interest rates. He pointed out that preliminary data previously released showed that Japan's labor cash earnings growth slowed from 3.6% in April to 3.2% in May. Surya said: 'Despite the recent slowdown, various indicators of basic wage growth remain far above the average level in 2025 and are still at historically high levels.' He added: 'We believe today's data is unlikely to alter the BOJ's fundamental assessment that the labor market remains tight.' Capital Economics maintains its view, forecasting that the BOJ will raise interest rates to 2% by the end of 2027.