Japan's central bank begins policy meeting

Japan's central bank began on Wednesday a two-day policy meeting, in which Bank of Japan's (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and eight other board members are expected to maintain its ultra-easy policy introduced in April. The Policy Board will also discuss whether to keep its assessment of the domestic economy, which it said "Japan's economy is recovering moderately" last month, by examining recent economic data. Last week, the government said Japan's economy grew at an annualized pace of 1.9 percent in the July-September period for the fourth straight quarter, but the growth was much weaker than the 3.8 percent expansion in the previous quarter due to a slump in exports and personal consumption. In April, the BOJ launched a massive monetary easing program to achieve its ambitious goal of ending deflation that has lasted for nearly 15 years and achieving the 2 percent inflation target in fiscal 2015. The measures include to double the monetary and the purchases of government bonds in two years, as well as to purchase more risky financial assets, including exchange-traded funds and real estate investment trusts. On November 5, Kuroda said in a speech that it is too early to discuss an exit strategy from the BOJ's massive monetary easing program. Japan's core consumer price index rose from a year earlier 0.7 percent in September for the fourth straight month of rise, indicating that inflation is finally returning to the country.