Bank of Japan leaves interest rates unchanged
The Bank of Japan on Friday left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5 per cent for the third meeting in a row as expected against a backdrop of lingering deflationary pressures.
By Agencies |
TOKYO: The Bank of Japan on Friday left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5 per cent for the third meeting in a row as expected against a backdrop of lingering deflationary pressures.
The nine-member board voted unanimously to hold the overnight call rate steady, the Bank of Japan said in a brief statement after a one-day meeting. The decision came just hours after the government said Japan's core consumer prices fell by a bigger-than-expected 0.3 per cent in March, down for a second straight month.
The central bank last raised interest rates in February, by a quarter point, which was the first increase since July when the BoJ ended more than five years of virtually free credit.
BoJ governor Toshihiko Fukui has said he hopes to keep raising interest rates gradually but he faces political resistance to further monetary tightening. Dealers said the market was now waiting for remarks from Fukui at a news conference later Tuesday as well as the central bank's latest forecasts for economic growth and inflation in its outlook report.
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