Bank of Japan Stays Course on Monetary Policy

Apr 26, 2024 | News On Japan

TOKYO - The Bank of Japan says it will leave its monetary policy unchanged. The announcement comes at the end of the BOJ's two-day meeting on Friday.

The central bank decided to stick with the policy it made in March.

That's when it ended the long-running negative interest-rate policy, and lifted short-term rates to a range of zero to 0.1 percent. The bank says it will maintain the target.

The policymakers will also continue purchasing Japanese government bonds at about the same level as before.

Meanwhile, the bank has risen its inflation forecast for fiscal 2024 that started in April.

It now expects prices to increase by 2.8 percent...up from the 2.4 percent it predicted in January.

This is the median forecast for the consumer price index and excludes fresh food.

The BOJ also raised its forecast for the next fiscal year to 1.9 percent, compared to the previous 1.8 percent.

And for the fiscal 2026, the bank expects prices to increase by 1.9 percent.

Investors are now focusing on whether BOJ Governor Ueda Kazuo will hint of a policy shift at his news conference scheduled for after the meeting.

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