The Bank of Japan (BOJ), or the central bank, left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.1 percent on Wednesday.

It is the third consecutive month that the BOJ kept the rate the same.

The BOJ also decided to raise its outright purchase of long-term government bonds to 1.8 trillion yen (US$18.3 billion) per month from 1.4 trillion yen to boost liquidity in the money market and curb a rise in long-term interest rates, it said in a statement.

At the central bank's two-day policy meeting, the BOJ's eight-member Policy Board voted unanimously to leave the target rate for unsecured overnight call money unchanged.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2009)