The Japanese central bank is leaving the interest rate unchanged with an upper limit of 0.25 percent, announces the bank, which is on a different course compared to other interest-rate-cutting central banks in the world.
In March, the bank made it clear that the many years of negative interest rates were over, and in July, the bank mildly shocked the world with an interest rate hike to the current 0.25 percent. This caused the exchange rate for the Japanese currency, the yen, to soar and stirred up the global market.
The bank's decision not to touch the interest rate is seen as a sign that the bank assesses that inflation is on its way up, albeit slowly, and that a cautious recovery in the country's economy can be discerned. Central bank governor Kazuo Ueda will later on Friday explain how the bank reasons.
Hours before the interest rate decision, statistics were published showing that inflation rose slightly for the fourth consecutive month, to 2.8 percent on an annual basis.
