Japan's central bank keeps massive monetary easing policy

Japan's central bank decided on Wednesday to maintain its massive monetary easing program, suggesting its confidence that the country remains on track to meet the 2-percent price stability target. After a one-day policy meeting, Bank of Japan's (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his eight board colleagues voted unanimously to keep its current ultra-easy policy introduced April last year, according to a statement released by the BOJ after the meeting. "The BOJ will conduct money market operations so that the monetary base will increase at an annual pace of about JPY 60-70 trillion (USD 600-700 billion)," the central bank said. During his meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month, Kuroda said the BOJ will adjust monetary policy without any hesitation if needed. Abe, who took office in December 2012, has promoted ambitious economic policies dubbed "Abenomics," which focus on drastic monetary easing by the BOJ, massive government spending and growth strategy. In April 2013, the BOJ launched a massive monetary easing program to end deflation that has lasted for nearly 15 years and achieve the 2-percent inflation target in fiscal 2015. The measures center on doubling the monetary base and purchases of government bonds in two years as well as to purchase more risky financial assets, including exchange-traded funds and real estate investment trusts. Japan's core consumer price index rose 1.3 percent in April from a year earlier for the 10th straight month of expansion, the government said last Friday.