Investing.com - The Bank of Japan voted unanimously on Friday to keep its monetary base target of buying Japanese government bonds and repeated that the economy is recovering moderately under ultra-loose monetary policy.
"The Bank of Japan will conduct money market operations so that the monetary base will increase at an annual pace of about ¥60 to ¥70 trillion," the BoJ said.
On the current economic climate, the BoJ repeated its overall assessment, saying,"Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately as a trend, although the subsequent decline in demand following the front-loaded increase prior to the consumption tax hike has been observed."
BoJ and government policymakers have said the drag from the April sales tax hike to 8% from 5% appears to be easing. The latest government surveys have also shown that consumer sentiment rebounded in May.