Bank of Japan raises policy rate to 0.25 pct

Japan's central bank on Wednesday decided to raise its short-term interest rates to 0.25 percent, up from a range between zero and 0.1 percent, local media reported.

The second policy rate hike this year, which was announced after a two-day monetary policy meeting, marked the first "additional rate hike" since February 2007, national broadcaster NHK reported.

The Bank of Japan also decided to halve its monthly government bond purchases to 3 trillion yen (about 20 billion U.S. dollars) from around 6 trillion yen by March 2026, signaling steps toward normalizing its monetary policy.

In its statement, the central bank said it will continue to raise the policy interest rate and adjust the degree of financial easing if the economy and prices develop as expected.

The market expects that after the rate hike, Japan's short-term interest rate will rise to around 0.3 percent, one of the highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis. The rate hike is expected to affect Japan's household deposits, housing loan rates and corporate borrowing rates.

Bank of Japan raises policy rate to 0.25 pct

Shanghai, China's financial hub, and several other eastern Chinese cities have been flooded due to Typhoon Pulasan, and drainage efforts are in full swing.

Pulasan, the 14th typhoon of the year, made its second landfall in Shanghai's Fengxian District at around 21:45 on Thursday after first making landfall earlier that day in Zhejiang Province.

Since midnight on Friday, parts of Shanghai's Pudong New Area have experienced increasingly heavy rainfall, resulting in flooded streets and temporary school closures.

Local authorities have intensified drainage efforts on waterlogged roads and in swamped neighborhoods.

Similarly, in neighboring Jiangsu Province, Rugao, a county-level city, was hit by a downpour from 7:00 to 17:00 on Friday. By 18:00, local firefighters had responded to more than 60 cases, carrying out drainage and rescue operations.

Typhoon Pulasan deluges eastern Chinese cities