BoJ maintains stimulus as low inflation persists

Tokyo

THE Bank of Japan (BoJ) left policy settings unchanged in the final meeting of 2017, retaining its unprecedented monetary stimulus as it waits for a pickup in stubbornly low inflation.

With Japan's economy continuing to grow at a healthy pace, and inflation at least moving in the right direction, there is little pressure on the BoJ to adjust its interest-rate and asset-purchase targets any time soon. This sets it apart from its global counterparts, with the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates and the European Central Bank moving closer towards policy normalisation.

Economists and investors are looking further ahead, with some speculating that the BoJ will follow some of its peers next year. While all 44 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg ahead of Thursday's policy meeting expected no change this month, 19 forecast tightening in 2018. "Next year, if the current economic growth trend continues, then there should be ever increasing expectations for monetary po…