TOKYO, March 18 -- NHK World issued the following news:
Bank of Japan policymakers will discuss ending the era of negative interest rates at their two-day meeting starting on Monday.
Many observers say recent pay hikes signal that the economic conditions are being met for a shift in the BOJ's massive monetary easing.
Japan's largest labor union federation, Rengo, said last week that businesses in the country had agreed to an average raise of 5.28 percent in the annual spring pay negotiations. That is the biggest wage increase in 33 years.
The central bank has kept a close watch over wage talks. It sees a virtuous cycle of pay-and-price increases as a pre-condition for adjusting its ultra-easy monetary policy.
BOJ Governor Ueda Kazuo to...