1st LD: Bank of Japan raises interest rate to 0.5 pct

TOKYO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday raised its policy interest rate to 0.5 percent from 0.25 percent, in line with market expectations and marking another step to unwind its long-standing ultra-loose monetary stimulus.

This is the third rate hike since the BOJ ended its negative interest rate policy in March 2024 and takes the policy rate to its highest level since October 2008.

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