A man strides past the Bank of Japan (BOJ) building in Tokyo on July 29, 2016. (Reuters photo)TOKYO - The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday in the wake of the US Federal Reserve's second interest rate hike in three months, underscoring the diverging policy paths of major global central banks. As expected, the BOJ maintained on Thursday its short-term interest rate target of minus 0.1% and a pledge to guide the 10-year government bond yield at around zero percent via aggressive asset purchases. Japanese policymakers have argued that they were playing by G20 rules to use monetary policy only for domestic purposes. Kuroda may offer clues on how Japan will defend its policies and how strongly it would push back against attempts to water down the G20 commitment on free trade, analysts say.

Source: Bangkok Post March 16, 2017 03:45 UTC