Bank of Japan maintains aggressive stimulus

Tokyo - The Bank of Japan (BoJ) maintained its massive stimulus programme on Tuesday and signalled its conviction that a steady economic recovery will help achieve its ambitious price target without immediate, additional monetary easing.

The central bank, however, offered a slightly more downbeat view on the price outlook, though it stressed the slowdown in inflation was due to temporary declines in oil prices.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda acknowledged that the oil drop could briefly pull Japan's consumer prices back into negative territory but insisted the central bank's policy is on track to ending nearly two decades of deflation and fitful growth.