The Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept monetary policy unchanged on Friday, but offered a bleaker view on exports and output. As expected, the BoJ maintained its pledge to increase base money by 60-70 trillion yen ($592-$691 billion) per year via aggressive asset purchases, mostly in Japanese government bonds.
"Exports have shown some weakness," the BOJ said in a statement after the decision. That was a bleaker view than last month, when the BOJ said exports had been moving sideways.
Focus now turns to a media briefing by Haruhiko Kuroda later on Friday, for clues on whether the central bank governor will step away from optimism over the Japanese economy. Despite increasing evidence of a slowdown, largely brought on by April's 3-percentage-point consumption tax hike, Kuroda has defended his upbeat view on the economy.
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