The Bank of Japan left its massive monetary stimulus program unchanged even as it trimmed its inflation forecasts, signaling further divergence ahead from its global peers.
Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda and the Policy Board voted Tuesday to maintain the central bank's yield curve control program and asset purchases, a result predicted by all 43 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The vote was 8-1, with new board member Goshi Kataoka dissenting.
The BOJ is under little pressure to take additional action even though inflation is well below its 2 percent target. The economy is on track for its longest expansion in 16 years, stocks are at the highest level in two decades and the labor market is the tightest in a generation.