TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday maintained ultra-low interest rates and made no tweaks to yield curve control (YCC), keeping its options open ahead of a leadership transition in April.
As widely expected, the BOJ kept intact its short-term interest rate target at -0.1% and that for the 10-year bond yield around 0% at the two-day meeting that ended on Friday.
The BOJ also made no changes to YCC, including a 0.5% cap set for the 10-year yield target, despite criticism in the market that its heavy-handed intervention to defend the ceiling was distorting the shape of the yield curve.
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is expected to hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. (0630 GMT) to explain the policy decision. Friday’s meeting was the last one he chaired before his second, five-year term ends on April 8.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)
