TOKYO, March 19 (Reuters) - Mizuho Financial Group said on Tuesday it plans to raise interest rates on ordinary yen deposits after the Bank of Japan ended eight years of its unorthodox negative interest rate policy.

The end to the negative rate policy is positive for the banking group's business, Mizuho said in a statement.

Mizuho and other major Japanese banks raised interest rates on long-term deposits late last year after the central bank loosened its grip on long-term interest rates in October. It was their first long-term rate hike since 2011. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)