Politics & Economics: In Brief
Officials Press</br></br>Japan on Rates</br></br>International Monetary Fund officials said Japan's central bank should keep the pace of interest-rate increases "gradual," and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development urged it not to raise rates until the end of 2008 to ensure an end to deflation. The OECD predicted Japan's real gross domestic product would rise 2.4% this year, higher than the 2% growth it had forecast. In 2008, the OECD said, the economy would expand by 2.1%.</br></br>Smoking Banned</br></br>In 75% of Homes