Tokyo: The Bank of Japan announced that it will study the pros and cons of raising its main interest rate at its meeting scheduled later this month. Governor of the bank, Kazuo Ueda, said in a statement on Monday that the Bank of Japan is actively gathering information on companies’ positions toward wage increases ahead of the policy-setting meeting on Dec. 18-19, pointing to the need to study wage data when deciding whether to resume raising interest rates.

According to Qatar News Agency, he added that strong wage growth is a key factor in achieving the Bank of Japan’s goal of keeping inflation stable at 2 percent, reaffirming the bank’s position that it will continue to raise interest rates in line with economic activity and prices.