Japan's interest decision was issued today as Japan's central bank kept its policy too lenient and left interest rates unchanged on Friday, with high uncertainty over growth expectations domestically and globally.
In a monetary policy statement by Japan's bank, the bank said it would keep short-term interest rates at -0.1%, and cap Japan's 10-year government bond yield around zero as expected.
The statements of Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda at his press conference were as follows:
- We don't yet expect inflation to reach 2% in a stable way
- Japan's economy recovers moderately
- Wage and price-fixing behavior has become more positive in recent times
- The Bank will continue monetary easing patiently over the coming period
The highly lenient situation for the Bank of Japan's hasta makes Japan an anomaly among major central banks, which have raised interest rates in the past two years to control rising inflation.
Partly as a result of this policy difference between the Bank of Japan and the rest of the world, the Japanese yen fell about 0.5% to about 148.40 against the dollar following Friday's decision, while Japanese 10-year government bond yields remained largely unchanged.
Notably, the yen is now in excess of 11% against the dollar this year so far.
