Japanese Bankers Association's Kato says rates remain accommodative and expects further rate hikes

The association has historically been a vocal advocate of normalisation, since higher rates widen net interest margins for domestic lenders after a long period of compression, so endorsement of further hikes from this quarter is consistent with prior form and should be read as sectoral positioning rather than fresh policy signal. The distinction worth drawing is between this and commentary from BoJ board members or the Governor: the former confirms the domestic consensus around the hiking path, the latter actually moves front-end JGBs and the yen. Language of the 'still accommodative' type mirrors the framing the BoJ itself has used to keep real rates deeply negative even as the nominal policy rate rises, which keeps the burden of proof on incoming wage and services-price data rather than on the headline rate level. The follow-ons that have mattered in comparable episodes are the next round of official BoJ commentary, the spring wage round signals, and whether the yen side of the trade starts to force the Ministry of Finance into view. As third-party commentary, this is path confirmation, not a catalyst.