The Bank of Japan is likely to raise its policy rate by 15 basis points to 0.25 per cent at its meeting next week, Ayako Fujita, economist at JPMorgan, said in a note. "The BoJ has long signalled it will raise interest rates in response to rising confidence and we believe the recent pick-up in wage momentum and signs of a recovery in consumption since the spring will meet these conditions," Ms Fujita said. At next week's meeting, the BoJ is also expected to announce a future path for buying JGBs, she said. The central market view is that monthly purchases of JGBs will fall from Y6 trillion to Y3 trillion in about two years.