Japan Keeps Monetary Stimulus Unchanged

The Bank of Japan refrained from adding more monetary stimulus on Wednesday despite fears of looming recession as the slowdown in emerging economies hurts exports and production.

The Policy Board of the BoJ governed by Haruhiko Kuroda decided by an 8-1 majority vote to maintain its target of raising the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY 80 trillion.

Takahide Kiuchi proposed to lift the monetary base by about JPY 45 trillion annually.

The BoJ observed that the slowdown in emerging economies affected exports and production. Exports and industrial production have been more or less flat, the bank noted.

Policymakers reiterated its optimistic stance that the economy will continue recovering moderately.

Nonetheless, in the semi-annual forecast to be released on October 30, the bank is widely expected to downgrade its growth outlook. The bank will also update its inflation forecast.

The decline in oil prices heavily weigh on the bank's ability to achieve its 2 percent inflation target by the next summer.

Excluding fresh food, core consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent in August, which was the first drop since the bank deployed its stimulus.

The BoJ had earlier expanded the stimulus in October 2014, when a decline in crude prices exerted pressure on its ability to achieve inflation target.

Although the policy statement provided no clear indications that additional stimulus is imminent, the bank will announce more easing at its end-October meeting, Marcel Thieliant, an economist at Capital Economics, said.

BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is set to hold his customary press conference. The markets await indications about further easing, with some hoping an announcement as early as this month.