The Bank of Japan took a less pessimistic view of the economy while leaving its aggressive monetary stimulus untouched a day after Yoshihide Suga took over as prime minister pledging to continue his predecessor’s stance on monetary and fiscal policy.
The BOJ kept its key interest rate at negative 0.1 percent and left its asset purchases unchanged, according to a statement from the bank Thursday. The result was expected by 95 percent of 44 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Suga, who was elected Wednesday for the country’s top job, has indicated he sees no need for any immediate changes in BOJ policies that have helped keep financial markets stable and get credit to companies amid COVID-19. Economists see Thursday’s decision fitting in with a pattern of little change for the time being, barring any sharp worsening of the pandemic or a run on markets.