At the Monetary Policy Meeting held today, the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan decided upon the following. (1) Yield curve control The Bank decided, by an 7-2 majority vote, to set the following guideline for market operations for the intermeeting period. The short-term policy interest rate: The Bank will apply a negative interest rate of minus 0.1 percent to the Policy-Rate Balances in current accounts held by financial institutions at the Bank. The long-term interest rate: The Bank will purchase Japanese government bonds (JGBs) so that 10-year JGB yields will remain at around zero percent. With regard to the ... (full story)

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 ... (full story)