The Bank of Japan maintained its massive monetary stimulus program and kept its price and economic forecasts unchanged. In a small sign of progress, it said inflation expectations had stopped falling.
BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said the bank wasn't in a position to consider exiting its current policy after the Policy Board voted 8-1 to keep interest rates and asset purchases at current levels.
Inflation expectations remain more or less unchanged, versus a previous assessment that they were weakening, the BOJ said, though risks to prices remain "skewed to the downside."