TOKYO—The Bank of Japan maintained its massive stimulus on Thursday and pledged to continue buying unlimited amounts of 10-year government bonds to defend its implicit 0.25 percent cap, signaling its resolve to focus on supporting a fragile economy.
The BOJ also left unchanged its guidance to keep its interest rate targets at current or lower levels.
As widely expected, the central bank kept unchanged its short-term interest rate target at -0.1 percent and a pledge to guide the 10-year government bond yield to around 0 percent. The decision was made by an 8–1 vote.
In fresh quarterly projections released on Thursday, the BOJ raised its core consumer inflation forecast to 1.9 percent from 1.1 percent projected in January. It expects inflation to hit 1.1 percent for both fiscal 2023 and 2024.
