The Bank of Japan fixes interest rates

Al-Anbat - Rahaf Abdullah 

The Bank of Japan fixed the interest rate at -0.1 percent unchanged in line with expectations, and reiterated the central bank's goal of keeping the yield on Japanese government bonds for 10 years at levels hovering around 0 percent.

Kuroda defends Bank of Japan's stance in his final monetary policy meeting, CNBC Economic Network reported Friday.

The Central Bank's has kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged since 2016, when it implemented its Yield Curve Control (YCC) policy,, which is seeks to defend the target yield of Japanese government bonds by buying an unlimited amount of them.

Kuroda has led the central bank’s monetary policy over the past decade, even as global central banks in recent months have raised interest rates in a bid to curb hyperinflation sweeping the world.

On Friday, the yield on Japanese government bonds for 10 years fell to (0.392) percent, below the upper limit of the central bank's tolerance range of 50 basis points around the zero level, which was raised from 25 basis points in December, which surprised markets, and the Japanese yen weakened by about (0.3) percent after the announcement and traded at 136.6 against the US.