Greg Hirt, Chief Investment Officer of Allianz Global Investors for global diversified assets, expects the Bank of Japan to maintain its policies unchanged at the January meeting. Hirt stated that the recent statements from the Bank of Japan seem to indicate that the central bank is still observing data to confirm a benign cycle between wage increases and price increases, rather than being convinced that this cycle has already been achieved. The Bank of Japan will release a new outlook report at the January meeting, and Hirt suggested that this report may further indicate the central bank's assessment of growth and inflation. The market will also closely watch for hints about the timing of policy adjustments during the meeting. Due to mixed data releases and the impact of the Noto Peninsula earthquake, Hirt believes that the likelihood of the Bank of Japan adopting a wait-and-see approach in January has significantly increased. It is known that the Bank of Japan has maintained its "negative interest rate" policy since 2016, and the last time the central bank raised interest rates was in 2007.