The Japanese yen traded around 154.7 per dollar on Thursday, hovering at nine-month lows after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called on the central bank to keep interest rates low. She also requested that BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda provide regular updates to the government’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy. Meanwhile, Ueda told parliament that the central bank remains focused on achieving moderate inflation supported by wage growth and steady economic expansion, in line with Takaichi’s pro-growth stance. Markets currently assign a 24% probability of a 25 bps rate hike in December, rising to 46% in January. Elsewhere, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama reiterated warnings against excessive yen weakness as it neared the 155 level, calling one-sided and rapid currency moves undesirable. On the data front, Japan’s producer prices rose more than expected in October.