The Japanese yen firmed toward 147 per dollar on Friday, erasing the prior session’s losses amid stronger-than-expected GDP data and rising expectations for a Bank of Japan rate hike. Japan’s economy grew 0.3% in the second quarter, accelerating from 0.1% in Q1 which was also the consensus forecast. The upside was driven mainly by net exports, which contributed 0.3 percentage points to growth despite US tariff headwinds. The yen also drew support from comments by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said the BOJ is falling behind in tackling inflation. Additionally, the central bank is under pressure to drop an inflation gauge tied to domestic demand and wage growth that has constrained policy tightening. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has maintained a cautious tone, stressing that “underlying inflation” remains below the 2% target.