The Bank of Japan maintained its deposit rate at the level of -0.1%. The bank kept the target yield of 10-year JGBs at around zero percent. The regulator also decided to hold its target of raising the amount of outstanding JGB holdings at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen ($722 billion).
The bank said inflation expectations have been more or less unchanged, while earlier they were weakening. However, price risks are still tilted to the downside.
Earlier this week, the yen rose amid of the Bank of Japan’s announcement of inflation expectations.
The bank kept its growth outlook at 1.4% in the fiscal year starting in April. The outlook for the fiscal 2019 was kept at 0.7%.
Board members also maintained the forecast that inflation will reach 2% in the fiscal year ending in March 2020. Some economists predict soon tightening of the regulator’s monetary policy. About 50% of forecasters said the Bank of Japan could start taking measures later this year.
