Investing.com - The Bank of Japan board on Friday voted as expected to keep monetary policy steady, with Takahide Kiuchi repeating his call for a lower bond buying target in a singular note of dissent.
Kiuchi wants the BoJ to cut the level of purchases from ¥80 trillion annually set in October last year to about ¥45 trillion. The board however did say that private consumption domestically has been resilient and exports are picking up, though downside risks remain from weak growth in Europe.
The overall economic assessment was revised stronger slightly.
"Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately." Last month it said the economy "has continued its moderate recovery trend."
The BoJ also said the economy is expected to "continue recovering moderately," slightly different from last month's outlook that it will "continue its moderate recovery trend."
"Private consumption has been resilient against the background of steady improvement in the employment and income situation," the BOJ said, sounding more upbeat in light of higher-than-expected GDP growth in the January-March quarter, led by consumer spending and a rise in inventories.
"The year-on-year rate of increase in the CPI is likely to be around zero percent for the time being, due to the effects of the decline in energy prices."
On Wednesday, Japan said the economy gained 0.6% growth in the first quarter, better than expected for an annualized pace of 2.4%.
But "risks to the outlook include developments in the emerging and commodity-exporting economies, the prospects regarding the debt problem and the momentum of economic activity and prices in Europe, and the pace of recovery in the U.S. economy," it said, warning about both the growth and inflation prospects in Europe.
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold a news conference from 1530 JST (0630 GMT) to 1615 JST (0715 GMT) to discuss the board's decision.