BOJ maintains stimulus, revises up view on output

[TOKYO] The Bank of Japan maintained its massive stimulus on Wednesday and revised up its assessment of output, signaling its confidence that the economy is set to recover without additional monetary stimulus.

As widely expected, the BOJ decided to maintain its pledge to increase base money, or cash and deposits at the central bank, at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen (US$671 billion) through purchases of government bonds and risky assets.

But the BOJ cautioned against some weakness in private consumption, saying that recovery in some areas has been sluggish.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold a news conference at 3:30 pm. (0630 GMT) to explain the policy decision.

The BOJ has stood pat since expanding stimulus in October last year to prevent slumping oil prices, and a subsequent slowdown in inflation, from delaying a sustained end to deflation.

REUTERS