Adds context in paragraph 4, comments by economic revitalisation minister in paragraphs 5-6

By Takaya Yamaguchi and Leika Kihara

TOKYO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Friday the government must closely watch the economic and price backdrop behind recent business sector calls for the central bank to raise interest rates.

But specific monetary policy decisions were up to the Bank of Japan, he said at a news conference.

Kato declined to comment when asked about U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's remarks that the BOJ is likely to raise rates and that it was behind the curve in tackling inflation risks.

The remarks by Bessent helped push up the yen and Japanese government bond (JGB) yields, as some market players saw an increasing chance of a near-term rate hike by the BOJ.

Economic revitalisation minister Ryosei Akazawa said Bessent's comments were not intended to pressure the BOJ into raising borrowing costs.

"He absolutely was not calling on the BOJ to raise rates," and was rather predicting it could do so as the bank was behind the curve in addressing inflationary risks, Akazawa told a separate news conference.

(Reporting by Takaya Yamaguchi, Leika Kihara and Yoshifumi Takemoto; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sam Holmes)

((leika.kihara@thomsonreuters.com; +813-6441-1828; Reuters Messaging: leika.kihara.reuters.com@reuters.net))