TOKYO Japan's parliament will hold a special session on August 23 to discuss the central bank's decision last month to raise interest rates, a government source said on Tuesday.

The lower house financial affairs committee plans to request Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda to participate in the session, according to the source, who declined to be identified.

The schedule will be officially decided later on Tuesday.

The BOJ surprised markets by raising interest rates to a 15-year high on July 31 and signalling its readiness to hike borrowing costs further on growing prospects that inflation will durably hit its 2% target.

The decision, coupled with US recession fears, roiled financial markets, triggering the Nikkei benchmark's biggest selloff since the 1987 Black Monday crash.

The market rout led senior officials from the ruling and major opposition parties to agree to summon Ueda to explain the central bank's decision.

  - Reuters