The Bank of Japan refrained from buying exchange-traded funds in May, marking the first time the central bank has done so for a full month under Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's bold monetary easing since 2013, data showed Tuesday.
The BOJ's opting out came after it removed a ¥6 trillion annual target for purchases to make ETF buying more flexible in March, responding to mounting criticism of the central bank's huge presence in the stock market.
The last time that the BOJ did not make any ETF purchases for a whole month was in December 2012. Kuroda took the bank's helm in March 2013.