Bank of Japan retains interest rate at 0.1%
2012-06-15 11:32:21
The Bank of Japan on Friday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged and it did not announce any fresh monetary stimulus.
The Policy Board unanimously decided to retain the key uncollateralized overnight call rate steady at 0-0.1 percent. The size of the asset purchase and credit facility was also left unchanged at JPY 40 trillion and JPY 30 trillion respectively.
The Bank of Japan's interest rate announcement came ahead of the crucial Greek elections on Sunday.
The central bank upgraded its assessment of the domestic economy, saying it "has started picking up moderately as domestic demand remains firm, mainly supported by reconstruction demand."
The International Monetary Fund said early this week that the Bank of Japan should consider further monetary stimulus, including longer-dated government bonds and private securities, as the lender observed the yen is "moderately overvalued from a medium-term perspective."
"The asset-purchase program could be expanded substantially beyond current plans to increase the likelihood of achieving the 1 percent inflation goal by end 2014," the IMF said on June 12, referring to the Bank f Japan's price target.