The Bank of Japan slightly loosened its grip on long-term interest rates on Friday and laid the groundwork to taper its huge asset purchases, as part of steps to make its stimulus sustainable enough to weather a prolonged battle to fire up inflation.
In a review of its policy tools announced after a two-day meeting, the BOJ said it would allow long-term interest rates to move up and down by 0.25% around its 0% target, instead of by the current implicit band of 0.2%.
To give itself more room to wind down its massive stimulus, the central bank also removed