Bank of Japan Leaves Monetary Policy Unchanged, Maintains View On Economic Recovery; Sounds Note Of Caution About Pace Of Recovery In EU, US

The Bank of Japan, or BoJ, on Thursday kept its monetary policy unchanged adding that the bank would continue with quantitative and qualitative easing measures with an aim to achieving its price-stability target of 2 percent.

According to expectations, the BoJ voted unanimously to continue increasing base money, or cash and deposits at the central bank, at an annual pace of 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen ($575 billion to $671 billion), and repeated its earlier stated outlook on the country's economy.

The bank's official statement noted that Japan's economy "has been recovering moderately" and added that overseas economies too are "picking up moderately, although a lackluster performance is partly seen." The statement added that public and private investments are on the rise and demand has been resilient, but it could be subject to some volatility before and after the hike in the consumption tax takes effect.

The statement also sounded a note of caution by saying that "there remains a high degree of uncertainty" about the Japanese economy, and expressed concerns about the pace of economic recovery in the European Union and the United States.