正如人们普遍预期的那样，日本央行在4月的会议上将其关键短期利率保持在0%至0.1%左右，此前该行自2007年以来首次加息，并于3月结束了八年的负利率。央行还表示，将根据3月份的决定，继续进行债券购买。周五的声明取消了日本央行过去每月购买约6万亿日元的说法。在季度展望中，由于进口价格上涨和政府支持措施减少的影响减弱，委员会将2024财年的CPI从1月份预测的2.4%上调至2.8%。董事会预计，2025年核心通胀率将达到1.9%，略高于其早先预计的1.8%，反映出最近油价的上涨。在GDP方面，政策制定者将2023年的增长预测从1.8%下调至1.3%。2024财年，该行还将GDP预期从1.2%下调至0.8%，主要反映出私人消费下降。

The Bank of Japan kept its key short-term interest rate unchanged at around 0% to 0.1% at its April meeting, as widely expected, after delivering the first rate hike since 2007 and ending its eight years of negative rates in March. The central bank also said it will continue to conduct bond purchases, in line with the March decision. Friday's statement scrapped a reference that the BoJ had purchased about JPY 6 trillion per month in the past. In a quarterly outlook, the committee revised higher CPI prints for FY 2024 to 2.8% from January's projections of 2.4%, due to the waning effects of higher import prices and fewer government support measures. For 2025, the board expects core inflation to hit 1.9%, slightly higher than its earlier estimates of 1.8%, reflecting a recent rise in oil prices. On the GDP front, policymakers cut their 2023 growth forecast to 1.3% from 1.8%. For FY 2024, the bank also slashed its GDP outlook to 0.8% from 1.2%, mainly reflecting lower private consumption.