TOKYO — The Bank of Japan stuck to its aggressive monetary easing Thursday and offered no indication it was considering policy changes despite recent speculation that it may be preparing the ground for rate increases next year.
The Japanese central bank voted 8 to 1 to maintain its target for 10-year Japanese government bond yields at around zero and its short-term deposit rate at minus 0.1%. The bank also kept its pledge to buy government bonds at an annual rate of 80 trillion yen ($705 billion), a passage seen by investors as a symbolic gauge of its commitment to easing.
The decision comes little more than a week since the Federal Reserve raised U.S. rates for the third time this year as it leads a global shift in central banking toward tighter policy.
While the BOJ has long been seen as one of the last major banks likely to pull away from easy money, market speculation over possible rate increases next year has mushroomed following remarks by Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda in November about the possible harmful side effects of ultralow rates on the financial system.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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