Bank Of Japan Stands Pat On Rates, Monetary Policy

The Bank of Japan left its interest rates and policy stance unchanged Thursday, reiterating its commitment to powerful monetary easing, but taking no further action to achieve its goal to spur a 1% increase in consumer prices.

The BOJ’s policy interest rate was kept in the range of 0% to 0.1%, with the size of the asset purchase program also maintained at 70 trillion yen ($89.3 billion), as widely expected.

The BOJ said it will proceed with monetary easing “in a continuous manner by steadily increasing the amount outstanding” of the asset purchase program that is currently in force. The inflation rate was likely to remain around zero for the time being, it added. The BOJ said that while fixed investments by businesses and private consumption continued to improve moderately, exports had moderated, and recent readings on production were weak. On the external front, the BOJ said particular attention must be paid to developments concerning the European debt problem.

The dollar dropped to 78.32 yen, from 78.47 yen immediately before the BOJ announcement and 78.46 yen late Wednesday in New York.

Marketwatch