The Bank of Japan on Thursday boosted its asset-purchasing program from ¥91 trillion to about ¥101 trillion and promised to review its medium- to long-term price stability goals next month.
Wrapping up a two-day meeting of the BOJ Policy Board that began Wednesday, BOJ Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said the decision, which was expected by the market, was not a result of political pressure but a continuation of the central bank's monetary easing tactics. It was the third increase in the busy bank's asset-buying program in the past four months. The size of the increase was about the same.
The announcement followed a Tuesday meeting between Shirakawa and Liberal Democratic Party President Shinzo Abe, who is expected to become prime minister next week. The meeting set off speculation Shirakawa was pressed to take more aggressive monetary measures to stimulate the economy and set a more ambitious inflation goal.