Japan's economic recovery is accelerating, and strong exports have increased the likelihood of the Bank of Japan raising interest rates.

Golden Finance reports that analyst Eamonn Sheridan stated that the release of Japan’s trade and investment data today reinforced expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates by 25 basis points this week. After contracting in the previous quarter, signs of economic recovery continue to strengthen. Japan’s exports in November increased for the third consecutive month, up 6.1% year-on-year, easily surpassing market expectations. Strong demand from the US and Europe, along with the global semiconductor demand recovery following the US trade agreement, drove this rebound. Exports to the US grew by 8.8%, and exports to the EU increased by nearly 20%, highlighting an improvement in external momentum. (Jin10)