- the Bank of Japan
The Bank of Japan decided not to expand its asset-purchase fund, which was earlier enlarged to 55 trillion yen ($700 billion), while cut its assessment of the nation's economy due to weakening production and exports. The central bank also maintained its benchmark interest rate between 0.0 and 0.1 per cent, in line with analysts' expectations.
"Japan's economic activity is more or less leveling off," the BOJ said in a statement announcing its policy decision.
"There's a chance that the BOJ will employ more monetary stimulus at its next meeting," said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief economist at Itochu Corp. (8001) in Tokyo. "The BOJ will likely revise down its CPI forecasts for fiscal 2012 and 2013," at the meeting.
"Downgrading the economy or growth rates means revising down the outlook for improvement in the supply-demand gap," said BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.44 per cent, or 38.71 points, to 8,863.30. The broader Topix Index edged higher 0.24 per cent, or 1.75, to 737.13.
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