Japan Says It Won’t Match Rate Hike:...

Japan Says It Won’t Match Rate Hike: Japan quashed speculation that it would match West Germany’s increase in interest rates. “Japan has no plan to change its monetary policy now,” Finance Minister Tatsuo Murayama told a news conference. He said Japanese prices are stable, although future trends bear watching because of rising oil prices and the uncertain outlook for domestic labor costs. Speculation that Japan would would raise its discount rate was fanned by Thursday’s news that West Germany had unexpectedly increased interest rates by a half point.