(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) TOKYO, Dec 21 (KUNA) -- Japan's central bank decided on Thursday to maintain its massive monetary easing policy and left its assessment of the country's economy unchanged.
At a two-day policy meeting that just concluded, Bank of Japan's (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his board colleagues voted 8-1 to keep its current ultra-easy monetary policy, according to a statement released by the BOJ.
"The BOJ will purchase Japanese government bonds so that 10-year bond yields will remain at around zero percent," the said the statement. It will conduct purchases of Japanese government bonds at more or less the current annual pace of increase in outstanding holdings at about JPY 80 trillion (USD 705 billion), aiming to achieve the target level of the long-term interest rate specified by the guideline. The BOJ will also continue applying a negative interest rate of minus 0.1 percent to part of accounts held by financial institutions at the central bank.
The central bank kept its assessment of the domestic economy unchanged from its November meeting, saying, "It is expanding moderately, with a virtuous cycle from income to spending operating.
"Business fixed investment has continued on an increasing trend with corporate profits and business sentiment improving. Private consumption has been increasing moderately, albeit with fluctuations, against the background of steady improvement in the employment and income situation," the BOJ said, upgrading its views on private consumption and corporate capital spending. (end) mk.hb
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