The yield on two-year Japanese government bonds turned positive for the first time in seven years on Wednesday, in a sign that traders anticipate an end to the Bank of Japan‘s negative interest rate policy.

Also on Wednesday, the benchmark 10-year JGB yield reached 0.48%, near the top of the wider band set by the central bank in its surprise policy shift on Tuesday.

Two-year bonds are sensitive to changes in the outlook for monetary policy. Some signs indicate a potential timing for the end of the negative interest rates as early as spring, when BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda’s term comes to an end.

The market for overnight index swaps, which are traded heavily overseas, points to expectations that the BOJ will raise rates in late April 2023, at the first policy board meeting after Kuroda’s departure.

Introduced in 2016, the BOJ’s negative interest rate policy applies a minus 0.1% rate to part of commercial banks’ reserves at the central bank. The idea is to spur the money toward lending to boost the economy.

Ending the policy would have far-reaching effects on Japan‘s economy, from corporate investment to household savings and pension funds.

Mizuho Research & Technologies estimates that a 1 percentage-point rise in long-term interest rates dents corporate profits by 5% through higher borrowing costs. Industries that rely on a lot of long-term debt, such as shipping and real estate, would be hit especially hard.

Automakers and other manufacturers could also face a blow to earnings if higher interest rates boost the yen against the dollar, making Japanese exports less competitive. Mizuho Research puts the overall impact on Japan‘s gross domestic product at minus 0.3%.

Financial institutions that have struggled with reduced yields during the negative-rate years would benefit. A 0.25-point rise in long-term rates would have a positive effect on the profits of big national and regional banks, Masahiko Sato of SMBC Nikko Securities said in a report Tuesday. But smaller regional institutions could be hit with paper losses on JGB holdings.

Pension funds, which need to manage money over long time horizons, would enjoy improved yields, letting them reduce the weightings of risk assets in their portfolios.

Many analysts see higher rates as an overall plus for households as well.

A 1-point rise in rates could raise total interest payments on home mortgages by up to 20 billion yen ($150 million) a year, according to Naoki Hattori at Mizuho Research. But “it will probably work in households’ favor as a whole” once higher interest income from savings is taken into account, Hattori said.

Consumers have earned next to no interest on savings since the BOJ introduced the negative-rate policy. Interest rates on savings accounts have averaged 0.001%. Nikkei estimates that a return to pre-2016 rates of around 0.02% would lead to 120 billion yen in interest income per year, based on liquid household deposits totaling about 600 trillion yen.