The Bank of Japan held interest rates steady on Thursday but maintained ​its bias for tighter monetary policy, warning that surging oil prices driven by the Middle East conflict could exacerbate inflationary pressures, Reuters reported. Governor Kazuo Ueda said the BOJ board was somewhat more ‌focused on upside risks to inflation than downside risks to growth from the conflict, keeping alive market expectations for a near-term rate hike. "Before the Middle East conflict, household and corporate activity had been firm.

Japan will roll out subsidies for fuel products from Thursday to cap gasoline prices — which have risen to all-time highs following the escalating war in Iran — at around ¥170 ($1.10) per liter, the Japan Times reported. The national average retail price of gasoline rose to a record ¥190.8 per liter on Monday, up by ¥29 per liter from a week earlier, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy reported on Wednesday. The average price per liter for diesel and kerosene also rose to ¥178.4 and ¥154.1, respectively — both all-time highs as well.

With the conflict in Iran rattling financial markets and oil prices, the Bank of Japan finds itself in a familiar dilemma, weighing a policy pause against the continued push for rate hikes, the Wall Street Journal reported. Escalating tensions in the Middle East have driven up crude prices, complicating the BOJ’s efforts to create stable 2% inflation backed by wage growth and demand, rather than higher costs.

World leaders announced their most forceful response to the surge in oil prices since the war in Iran began at the end of last month, with Japanese and German officials saying they would release oil from their strategic reserves, the New York Times reported. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan would begin releasing oil as early as next Monday. Less than an hour later, Germany’s economy minister, Katherina Reiche, said her country would also release oil. Austria will also release oil from its reserves, the country’s economy minister, Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, said.

The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan involving liabilities of at least ¥10 million ($63,000) totaled 851 last month, the highest level in 13 years for a February, Tokyo Shoko Research said Monday, the Japan Times reported. The figure marked a year-on-year rise of 11.3% and the third consecutive monthly increase, driven in part by worsening business conditions that reflected sluggish sales and growing labor shortages. By industry, the service sector saw the largest increase, climbing 30.9% to 309 cases.

Nidec may book ¥250 billion ($1.6 billion) in impairment charges as it begins tallying the cost of an accounting scandal that’s forced a leadership exodus and reportedly sparked an investigation from Japan’s securities commission, Bloomberg reported. Nidec warned there could be additional charges that would impact its past financial results, with third-party investigators saying Tuesday they’ve uncovered at least 1,000 instances of improper accounting. The company hasn’t disclosed a timeline for the release of its revised financial reports. Scrutiny of Nidec is ramping up.

Japanese spending on factories and equipment rose 6.5% on-year in the fourth quarter, Ministry of Finance data showed on Tuesday, indicating resilient investment ‌demand continued to support a barely growing economy, Reuters reported. The encouraging data, which will be used ‌in calculating revised gross domestic product figures scheduled for March 10, comes as the government seeks to bolster investment through targeted ​public outlay in sectors it deems vital for economic security.

The government expects its interest payments on outstanding debt to roughly double over the next four years as the Bank of Japan’s gradual rate hikes push up borrowing costs, Bloomberg News reported. Interest payments are projected at ¥21.6 trillion ($139 billion) in the year starting April 2029, up from the current year’s budgeted ¥10.5 trillion, according to a Finance Ministry document released Thursday. The projections assume annual nominal economic growth of 3%. Overall debt-servicing costs are seen rising about 46% to ¥41.3 trillion during the same period.

China banned the export of critical minerals and other goods with potential military uses to several major Japanese companies, further escalating its pressure campaign against Tokyo over remarks Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made about Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new measures, announced by China’s Commerce Ministry Tuesday, show Beijing isn’t backing down in its dispute with Japan, even after Takaichi won a resounding victory in a recent parliamentary election.

China banned the export of critical minerals and other goods with potential military uses to several major Japanese companies, further escalating its pressure campaign against Tokyo over remarks Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made about Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new measures, announced by China’s Commerce Ministry Tuesday, show Beijing isn’t backing down in its dispute with Japan, even after Takaichi won a resounding victory in a recent parliamentary election.