Bank Of Japan Holds Policy Steady; Expects Continuation Of ‘Moderate Recovery’

As expected, the Bank of Japan, or BoJ, on Tuesday announced that it is keeping monetary policy and the asset-purchase program steady.

The central bank, in a statement, noted that Japan’s economy “has continued to recover moderately” and that other economies, including those of developed countries, too are seen to be recovering, but called the latter a “lackluster performance."

The BoJ will continue to conduct money market operations to increase its monetary base by 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen annually ($581 billion to $678 billion). It will purchase Japanese government bonds worth 50 trillion yen annually, and buy exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, at an annual pace of 1 trillion yen. The bank will also buy Japanese real estate investment trusts, or J-REITS, worth 30 billion yen and maintain outstanding corporate debt worth 5.4 trillion yen.

The bank also noted that exports had “recently leveled off more or less” although it found an improvement in corporate profits and an increase in public and private investments. Financial conditions were “accommodative,” according to the bank, while an uptick in employment and wages kept domestic demand upbeat.

However, as in its previous policy statement, the BoJ noted developments in emerging markets and commodity-exporting nations, as well as the prospects for recovery in the U.S. and Europe to be potential risks to its outlook of a “moderate recovery.”

In afternoon trade, the Nikkei-225 was trading up 0.54 percent.