Capital Economics Asia-Pacific head Marcel Thieliant said the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey released earlier strengthened the case for faster interest-rate hikes.
According to Jin10, Thieliant said the headline index measuring sentiment among large manufacturers jumped to +22, the highest level since the global financial crisis.
He added that sentiment among large non-manufacturing firms in the first quarter was already at its highest level since the early 1990s, and edged up further to +37 from +36.
Thieliant also said companies’ inflation expectations for the next five years rose to 2.6% from 2.5%, which he said supported the views of Bank of Japan policymakers who have warned that inflation risks are tilted to the upside.