Japan's central bank raises key interest rate by 0.25 pct

The Bank of Japan (BOJ), the country's central bank, decided on Wednesday to raise the key short-term interest rate from 0.25 percent to 0.5 after seeing robust growth of the economy.

The decision was made at the end of a two-day meeting of the central bank's nine-member Policy Board. The rate hike marked the first increase since last July, when the BOJ lifted its zero- interest-rate policy for the first time since August 2000.

The central bank later in the day released a statement which predicted that the Japanese economy is likely to continue its moderate expansion with a virtuous circle of production, income and spending in place.

The central bank vowed to "adjust the level of interest rates gradually" and maintain "the accommodative financial conditions ensuing from very low interest rates for some time" in the future, Kyodo News said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki described the BOJ's decision to take its first additional credit-tightening step as " appropriate."

Source: Xinhua