Boj To Keep İnterest Rates At The "Extremely Low Levels"

Bank of Japan stated on Thursday it intends to keep "extremely low levels of long- and short-term interest rates for an extended period of time, at least through around spring 2020."

The bank argued it took into account uncertainties in economic activity and developments in overseas economies.

It decided to keep a negative 0.1 percent short-term interest rate and purchase government bonds so that 10-year yields remain at around 0 percent.

Purchases will continue so that the amount increases by about 80 trillion yen annually. The bank also decided to "make clearer its stance to persistently continue with powerful monetary easing" while monitoring the effects of the scheduled consumption tax hike and the movements of global economies.

According to the statement, Japan's economy is likely to continue expanding moderately, with the consumer price index (CPI) gradually moving toward 2 percent.

However, BoJ predicted "it is likely to still take time" to achieve the price stability target. The board's median core CPI forecast was at 1.1 percent for fiscal 2019, 1.4 percent for 2020 and 1.6 percent for 2021.

Meanwhile, the median real GDP was expected to be at 0.8 percent in 2019, 0.9 percent in 2020 and 1.2 percent in 2021. - Istanbul