(RTTNews) - Members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board noted that Japan's economy is growing consistently and is expected to continue expanding above trend, minutes from the central bank's October 30-31 meeting revealed on Tuesday.
Downside risks to Japan's economy include developments in overseas economies and unpredictable commodity prices, the minutes showed. To wit, the U.S. economy is expected to continue to grow at a modest pace, while the European economies appear to have bottomed out.
As far as inflation, consumer prices are expected to increase gradually, while exports remain more or less flat.
At the meeting, the BoJ Policy Board decided to maintain the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0.25 percent. This was the highest since late 2008. The BoJ ended its negative interest rate policy in March and lifted the benchmark rate in July to the current level.
