Bank of Japan’s Noguchi advocates gradual interest rate hikes

Bank of Japan’s Noguchi advocates gradual interest rate hikes

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -Bank of Japan board member Asahi Noguchi said on Thursday the central bank must take a “measured, step-by-step approach” in raising interest rates. If the pace of rate hikes is too fast, it could hurt companies’ wage-hike momentum and put the achievement of the central bank’s 2% inflation target further out of reach, Noguchi said. But rate hikes that are too slow risk destabilising economic activity and prices, h…