Japan's top candidate for prime minister warns: Don't rush to raise rates

Sanae Takaichi, Japan's economic security minister and a leading candidate for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election, said on Saturday that the Bank of Japan should maintain ultra-low interest rates to support a fragile economic recovery. "Frankly, it's too early to tell," she told a news conference with nine candidates running in the race when asked about the Bank of Japan's plans to raise rates this year. She added that "interest rates should remain low." The Bank of Japan abandoned negative interest rates in March and raised short-term rates to 0.25% in July as it believed the economy was on track to achieve its 2% inflation target on a lasting basis. (Jin Shi)