Japan's central bank keeps monetary easing policy

Japan's central bank decided Tuesday to keep its monetary policy unchanged, and upgraded its assessment of the world's third-largest economy, amid recovery in consumption and exports on the back of a weak yen and rising stocks. At a two-day policy meeting, Bank of Japan's (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his eight board colleagues voted unanimously to maintain its policy introduced two months ago, according to a statement released by the BOJ after the meeting. "The BOJ will continue with the quantitative and qualitative monetary easing, aiming to achieve its 2 percent price target, as long as it is necessary for maintaining that target in a stable manner," the central bank said. But the BOJ refrained from taking additional steps to calm recent bond market volatility. In April, the central bank decided to double the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY 60-70 trillion (USD 600-700 billion) and the purchases of government bonds in two years to overcome the country's deflation that has lasted for nearly 15 years. The measures also included more purchases of risky financial assets, including exchange-traded funds and real estate investment trusts. The central bank upgraded its assessment of Japan's economy for six months straight, saying, "Japan's economy has been picking up." Last month, the BOJ said Japan's economy has started picking up. With regard to the outlook, the BOJ said Japan's economy is expected to return to a moderate recovery path, mainly against the background that domestic demand increases its resilience due to the effects of monetary easing as well as various economic measures, and that growth rates of overseas economies gradually pick up, albeit moderately. It also pointed out risks to Japan's economy, saying "there remains a high degree of uncertainty," including the prospects for the European debt problem, the growth momentum of the US economy, as well as the emerging and commodity-exporting economies.