Tokyo — The Bank of Japan maintained its massive monetary stimulus programme and kept its price and economic forecasts unchanged. In a small sign of progress, though, it said inflation expectations had stopped falling. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank was not in a position to consider exiting its current policy after the board voted 8-1 to keep both interest rates and asset purchases at current levels. Inflation expectations remain more or less unchanged, versus a previous assessment that they were weakening, the central bank said, though risks to prices remained "skewed to the downside". The yen, which had strengthened as the market reacted to the bank’s view of price expectations, weakened after Kuroda’s comments. It traded at ¥111.15 against the dollar at 3.45pm in Tokyo. The governor said the Bank of Japan is watching the currency market closely. The central bank forecast the economy to grow 1.4% in the fiscal year starting in April, with inflation of 1.4% over the...
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