MW: BOJ to end some special steps, but extends lending
By Lisa Twaronite
TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The Bank of Japan's policy board unanimously left its overnight call rate target at 0.1% Friday, as was widely expected. It also extended its special lending program at that rate through the end of the Japanese fiscal year in March in order to ensure ample liquidity until then. However, it said it would end outright purchases of corporate bonds and commercial paper in December, when those increasingly less-used steps were already scheduled to expire. Board member Atsushi Mizuno was the lone the policy board dissenter opposing its decision to end the outright buys and also end the loan program in March. Although the BOJ makes its decisions independently, the government has kept pressure on the bank to do all it can to support the economic recovery.
