According to Nikkei News, the Bank of Japan will hold a monetary policy meeting on December 18-19, and will raise the current policy interest rate of 0.5%. The final coordination stage has already been reached. The most likely plan is to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.75%, reaching the highest level in 30 years since 1995. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and other senior officials have hinted at the possibility of submitting a rate hike proposal. Surveys show that among the nine policy members, including the governor and deputy governors, more than half are expected to support the rate increase. Currently, no policy member has explicitly opposed the hike, and the Japanese government generally supports the rate increase. The BOJ will make a final decision after assessing whether market chaos such as a stock market crash or a sharp yen appreciation might occur. If the rate hike is implemented on Friday, it will be the first increase in 11 months since January 2025.