The Bank of Japan on Thursday upgraded its opinion of the economy for the first time since July, describing it as "recovering moderately" on solid consumer spending and recovering corporate spending amid improvements in employment and nonbase pay.
The BOJ's nine-member Policy Board decided unanimously to leave its radical quantitative easing policy launched in April in place. The program, the heart of the deflation-fighting program dubbed "Abenomics," is aimed at doubling the nation's monetary base and purchasing a wide range of government bonds to stoke 2 percent inflation in two years.
Looking ahead, the BOJ said the economy "is expected to continue a moderate recovery" as consumer prices gradually rise from year to year, according to a statement issued after the end of its two-day policy meeting.