BOJ to raise rates again by December as weak yen revives inflation risks: Reuters poll

TOKYO, July 23 : The Bank of Japan will raise its interest rate again by end-December and possibly as soon as October, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll, keeping further rate rises in view through next year.That outlook underscores the bind Japan's central bank is in: if it keeps rates low it could intensify yen-driven inflation, but raising them too quickly risks aggravating debt-service concerns and slowing a fragile economic recovery.Broadening price pressures and a weak yen are nudging the BOJ to keep raising rates very gradually, about once every six months. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has signalled her wariness of rate rises.In the July 13-21 survey 95 per cent, or 83 of 87 economists, expected the BOJ to leave rates unchanged this quarter. The central bank ra