The Bank of Japan (BoJ) early this morning left its key short-term interest rates unchanged at -0.1% and its 10-year bond yields near 0% by a unanimous vote at its March meeting. The central bank also made no tweaks to its yield control curve, which includes a 0.5% cap on bond purchases, tempering views that monetary policy side effects need to be addressed soon.
Meanwhile, BoJ board members signalled their concern about the economy by lowering their expectations for exports and output, while keeping their views on the overall economic assessment unchanged. The BoJ reiterated that it could adopt additional easing measures if necessary, while expecting the BoJ’s short and long-term interest rate policy to remain at its current level or slightly lower.
Today’s meeting was the last meeting of Governor Haruhiko Kuroda before his retirement, as his successor, Kazuo Ueda, will take over in April. The new governor will conduct his first monetary policy meeting on 27-28 April, when the BoJ Governing Council will present new quarterly growth data and update its economic forecasts, extending them to 2025.
