TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Bank of Japan announced its decision to leave its monetary policy unchanged in its December meeting on Friday.
The bank decided by a 8-1 vote to raise the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY 80 trillion.
Also, the bank lefts its asset purchase policy unchanged.
The Bank said that Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately and that the decline in demand following the front-loaded increase prior to the consumption hike has been waning.
In its earlier statement, the Bank had said that there is some weakness on the production side due to the effects of the subsequent decline in demand following the front-loaded increase prior to the consumption tax hike.
Exports, which were assessed to be more or less flat in the earlier statement, have been reassessed to have shown signs of picking up.
Industrial production has started to bottom out, due in part to the progress in inventory adjustments, the bank said. Previously, the bank had observed that some weakness remained in industrial production.
The bank reaffirmed that the quantitative and qualitative easing has been exerting its intended effects and that the bank will continue with the policy to achieve the price stability target of 2 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX