BOJ makes tentative return to orthodox policy

The Bank of Japan implemented a seismic policy shift this month by raising rates for the first time in 17 years. Policymakers lifted the key rate out of negative territory ― from minus 0.1 percent to a range of zero to 0.1 percent ― in their first tentative move away from a long-standing ultra-easy monetary policy. The change ended Japan's outlier status as the world's only economy with negative interest rates.