Opposing each other? After Ka-shi nominated two doves to enter the game, the "hawk king" of the Bank of Japan firmly stated: Interest rates should continue to rise!

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takashi expressed her hope to maintain loose monetary policy. However, the next day, the most hawkish member of the Bank of Japan's policy board, Hajime Takata, once again called for an increase in the benchmark interest rate. During a speech to local business leaders in Kyoto on Thursday, Takata said, "I believe the central bank should further adjust its policy and communicate with the premise that the target of stable prices has been basically achieved." At last month's policy meeting, Takata surprisingly proposed consecutive rate hikes, drawing market attention. This is his first public statement since then. While it was not surprising that he called for a rate hike again on Thursday, it highlights the divergence in positions between the camp within the Bank of Japan supporting the normalization of aggressive policies, with the nomination of two well-known doves by Prime Minister Sanae Takashi, and the Japanese government. On Wednesday, Sanae Takashi nominated Toichiro Asada, a professor at Chuo University, and Ayano Sato, a professor at Aoyama Gakuin University, to replace the outgoing policy board members Asahi Noguchi and Junko Nakagawa. Noguchi's term will end at the end of next month, while Nakagawa's term will end in June. These statements come as the Bank of Japan is scheduled to hold a policy meeting on March 18-19, with the market generally expecting the bank to maintain the status quo.