The Bank of Japan refrained from adding extra stimulus as policy makers said the world’s third-biggest economy can maintain a recovery even with last week’s increase in the sales tax.
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his board maintained a pledge to expand themonetary base at a pace of 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen ($681 billion) per year, the central bank said in a statement today in Tokyo, as forecast by all 36 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The economy has continued to recover moderately, “albeit with some fluctuations due to the consumption tax hike,” the BOJ said.
While the central bank highlighted a pickup in private investment and increasing industrial production, economists forecast the BOJ will boost stimulus by July, according to a Bloomberg News survey ahead of today’s decision. Kuroda and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe need to sustain confidence in Abenomics as the tax increase damps consumption and after declines in the yen failed to drive up export volumes.
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his board maintained a pledge to expand themonetary base at a pace of 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen ($681 billion) per year, the central bank said in a statement today in Tokyo, as forecast by all 36 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The economy has continued to recover moderately, “albeit with some fluctuations due to the consumption tax hike,” the BOJ said.
While the central bank highlighted a pickup in private investment and increasing industrial production, economists forecast the BOJ will boost stimulus by July, according to a Bloomberg News survey ahead of today’s decision. Kuroda and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe need to sustain confidence in Abenomics as the tax increase damps consumption and after declines in the yen failed to drive up export volumes.