The Bank of Japan stuck to the key pillars of its ultra-loose monetary policy as governor Haruhiko Kuroda nears the end of a decade in charge, leaving his successor to engineer an exit from negative interest rates and meet the bank’s elusive inflation target.
Kuroda, who became associated with “bazooka” policies in trying to boost prices in a stagnant economy, avoided further surprises in a final policy board meeting before he steps down next month.
The BoJ kept overnight interest rates on hold at minus 0.1 per cent. It maintained its bond-buying policy to control yields, allowing 10-year bond yields to fluctuate by 0.5 percentage points on either side of zero, after surprising investors by expanding the band in December.