TOKYO: Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday any future increase in long-term interest rates that reflects improvements in the economy will likely be gradual. “We don’t expect long-term interest rates to rise rapidly,” Kuroda told parliament, when asked by an opposition lawmaker about the risk of sharp rises in yields hurting the BOJ’s balance sheet. He also said the average duration of government bond holdings by the BOJ was around seven years.
