“Growth is weaker but not weak enough to push the balance towards cuts, but the upside risks to inflation have clearly increased. That is consistent with a slow and steady path down, and two cuts is a good baseline.”

Goldman Sachs US chief economist David Mericle expects the latest tariff news to be incorporated into economic projections. He forecasts the median dot plot to show a 0.3 percentage point upward revision of core PCE inflation to 2.8 per cent and a 0.3 percentage point downgrade of 2025 GDP growth to 1.8 per cent.

Chinese top officials have pledged to ramp up monetary easing measures, including interest rate cuts "at appropriate times."

The BOJ’s decision comes ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, where the U.S. central bank is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate steady.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) left its base rate unchanged at 4.75% on Thursday, in line with the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to keep rates steady. Major banks followed, with HSBC maintaining its best lending rate in Hong Kong at 5.