TOKYO, Nov 20 (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan kept monetary
policy steady on Tuesday after having eased for the second
straight month in October, preferring to save its limited
options for now as political pressure for bolder monetary
expansion heightens ahead of a general election in December.
The central bank kept its assessment of the economy
unchanged but warned of weakness in exports, output and capital
expenditure due to a slowdown in overseas economies.
As widely expected, the BOJ kept its overnight call rate
target unchanged at a range of zero to 0.1 percent by a
unanimous vote and held off on expanding its asset-buying
programme, its key monetary easing tool, from 91 trillion yen
($1.12 trillion).
BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa will hold an embargoed news
conference with his comments expected to come out some time
after 4:15 p.m. (0715 GMT).
The BOJ has expanded monetary stimulus four times so far
this year through an increase in asset purchases including in
October, as the pain from weakening exports and factory output
nudge the economy into recession.
