Bank of Japan continues to implement ultra-loose monetary policy

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Bank of Japan (BoJ) on Tuesday decided to continue its ultra-loose monetary policy by keeping the interest rate at minus 0.1%.

The bank will purchase "a necessary amount of Japanese government bonds without setting an upper limit so that 10-year JGB yields will remain at around zero percent," it said.

The BoJ will also purchase exchange-traded funds and Japan real estate investment trusts as necessary with upper limits of about 12 trillion yen ($81.3 billion) and about 180 billion yen ($1.2 billion), respectively.

It noted that the bank would continue monetary easing due to high uncertainties at home and abroad, and that economic activity and financial conditions would be closely monitored.

The bank emphasized that it aims to achieve price stability at 2% inflation in a sustainable and manageable manner with the contribution of wage increases.

The BoJ members' expectation for the country's growth dropped from 2% to 1.8% for 2023 while they kept the inflation forecast at 2.8%.