BOJ keeps rates unchanged, approves a plan to gradually reduce bond purchases

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged on Friday but said it would reduce future bond purchases to allow longer-term interest rates to move further.

At a two-day monetary policy meeting, the central bank said it would continue buying government bonds at the current pace but decided to put forward a specific plan to reduce purchases over the next year or two at a subsequent policy meeting in July.

As was widely expected, the Bank of Japan unanimously kept its near-term interest rate target at a range of 0-0.1%.