Bank of Japan keeps policy steady, to pump $1 trn to combat health crisis

The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Tuesday and stuck to its view that the economy will gradually recover from the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, signalling that it has taken sufficient steps for now.

As widely expected, the central bank maintained its pledge to guide short-term interest rates at -0.1% and the 10-year government bond yield around 0% by a 8-1 vote.

It also made no changes to a range of programmes it put in place to channel money via financial institutions into companies faced with slumping sales from the pandemic.