Bank of Japan holds pat on monetary policy

TOKYO, Sep 22 (NHK) - Policymakers at the Bank of Japan have decided to leave the central bank's easing program unchanged as they wrapped up their two-day meeting on Friday.

The bank will keep its short-term benchmark interest rate in negative territory. It will also continue its asset purchases to keep long-term rates "around zero percent."

The BOJ also said it's maintaining an allowance band of around plus and minus half a percentage point as well as a cap of 1 percent adopted in July.

In the previous meeting, BOJ Governor Ueda Kazuo made the first policy tweak since he took the helm in April.

Investors are now focusing on whether Ueda will offer any fresh signals on the timing of a policy shift at his news conference scheduled after the meeting.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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