Japan's central bank maintains monetary easing policy, economic assessment

The bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday decided to keep its current monetary policy and assessment of the economy, saying the domestic economy is recovering modestly despite consumer prices remain low, local media reported.

Following the central bank's two-day policy meeting, the nine- member Policy Board kept intact its current monetary policy of increasing base money at an annual pace of around 80 trillion yen (about 649.84 billion U.S. dollars) with an 8 to 1 vote, though the country's core consumer prices remain at around zero percent, far below the target of 2 percent.

The BOJ maintained its previous assessment for the Japanese economy, saying it "has continued to recover moderately," after gross domestic product for the first quarter of this year was upgraded sharply.

The central bank also announced that it will reduce the number of policy meetings starting from next year to eight annually from the current 14, and release economic and price forecasts on a quarterly basis, up from twice a year. Endi