Bank of Japan raises interest rate for second time in 17 years

The Bank of Japan(BoJ) further unwounds its massive monetary easing programme by hiking interest rates for only the second time in 17 years and indicating plans for more if the economy performs as officials expect.

After a two-day policy meeting, the BoJ set an interest rate of 0.25 percent, a notch up from the previous rate of around zero to 0.1 percent.The move came after a hike in March that was the first since 2007 and brought an end to a maverick negative-rate policy aimed at boosting growth in the world's fourth largest economy.