FILE PHOTO: A security guard walks past in front of the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo, Japan January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
March 15, 2019
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Friday and offered a bleaker assessment of exports and output, nodding to heightening overseas risks that could threaten to derail a fragile economic recovery.
The central bank also modified its view on Japan’s overall economy, pointing to the impact from slowing overseas growth.
In a widely expected move, the BOJ maintained its short-term interest rate target at minus 0.1 percent and a pledge to guide 10-year government bond yields around zero percent.
The decision on maintaining its interest rate targets was made by a 7-2 vote with board members Goushi Kataoka and Yutaka Harada dissenting.
The central bank said exports were showing some weakness recently. At its previous review in January, it had said they were “increasing as a trend.”
BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. (0630 GMT) to explain the policy decision.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara, Stanley White, Tetsushi Kajimoto and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Chang-Ran Kim)
