BOJ retains monetary easing policy

The Bank of Japan decided Wednesday to maintain its current monetary easing policy, though it seems far from achieving its 2 percent inflation target, amid the likelihood of the consumer price index falling into negative territory.
The central bank's nine-member Policy Board voted to keep its key policy of increasing base money at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen through massive asset purchases, according to Japan's (Kyodo) News Agency.
It also left unchanged its current assessment on the domestic economy, saying it "has continued its moderate recovery trend," citing such factors as a pickup in exports, though some weakness in industrial output was seen in February.