The Bank of Japan has kept its main policy unchanged after forecasting that the economy will regain more lost growth than previously thought once it starts to recover from the current state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The BOJ held its interest rate and asset buying settings intact, according to a statement from the central bank Thursday. All 44 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted no change in the bank’s main policy levers ahead of a policy review in March.
While the bank took a gloomier view of the current state of the economy, as record cases of COVID-19 keep a state of emergency in place, the BOJ concluded that weaker growth at the end of the current fiscal year and a government stimulus package announced last month will result in a stronger rebound in the financial year starting April.