Investing.com - The Bank of Japan held monetary policy steady as expected on Friday, but announced a new program for purchases of exchange-traded funds and extended the average maturity of holdings of Japanese government bonds to 7-12 years.
The decision keeps the annual pace of asset buying at ¥80 trillion in an 8 to 1 vote, but the other moves drew less support from the board.
Board members Koji Ishida and Takehiro Sato said the current maturity range of seven to 10 years was fine while Takahide Kiuchi said a shorter maturity of around seven years would be more appropriate, according to the BOJ. They were among the four members who voted against additional easing in October 2014.
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold a press conference later Friday to discuss the decisions, seen as slightly easier by some market analysts.