Bank of Japan maintains rates, widens range of long-term bonds

Tokyo, Dec 20 The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Tuesday decided to adjust its yields on 10-year government bonds in a policy move to address mounting costs connected to its long-standing monetary easing measures.

The BOJ said its yields on the bonds would be adjusted from a range of plus and minus 0.25 per cent to a range of plus and minus 0.5 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

The central bank also said it had opted to maintain its yield target, adding that it will substantially raise the amount of bonds it purchases.

The BOJ said, however, in contrast to European and U.S central banks, it will continue to set short-term interest rates at minus 0.1 per cent and guide 10-year yields to around zero per cent as regards its yield curve control program.

Economists here said the BOJ's move was a surprise tweak to its ultra-loose monetary easing policy, rather than an overhaul of its massive stimulus program, but was anticipated to be unrolled next year.

In its statement on the matter, the bank said its decision was made to "improve market functioning and encourage a smoother formation of the entire yield curve, while maintaining accommodative financial conditions".

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor