Japan's central bank leaves rates unchanged as expected

By Tuba Ongun

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) on Friday unanimously left interest rates unchanged but indicated that it may start reducing Japanese government bond purchases

The short-term interest rate was kept at around 0% to 0.1% at its June meeting, as widely expected.

But the bank said it might reduce its purchases of Japanese government bonds after its July meeting.

It will collect views from market participants and decide on a detailed plan for the reduction of its purchase amount for the next one to two years, said a statement.

In March, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years, the last central bank to drop its negative interest rate policy.