The Bank of Japan on Friday kept its ultraeasy monetary policy in place and left its assessment of the economy unchanged for the third month straight, describing it as "recovering moderately" amid improved corporate sentiment.

After a two-day meeting, the nine-member Policy Board decided unanimously to continue the central bank's radical quantitative easing policy going. The policy, launched in April, aims to double the nation's monetary base by buying up government bonds to artificially stoke 2 percent inflation in two years.

The policymakers are believed to have also discussed the impact on Japan of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision Wednesday to start tapering its similar but smaller stimulus program in January.