BOJ keeps rates steady, decides to lay out bond taper plan next month By Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged on Friday but said it would trim bond buying in the future to allow long-term interest rates to move more.

At its two-day policy meeting, the central bank said it would continue to buy government bonds at the current pace. But it decided to come up with a specific plan to trim purchases for the next one to two years, at a subsequent policy-setting meeting in July.

As widely expected, the BOJ maintained its short-term interest rate target in a range of 0-0.1% in a unanimous vote.

Governor Kazuo Ueda is expected to hold a news conference to brief on the decision at 3:30 p.m. (0630 GMT).