The decision came as the central bank seeks to wean its economy off the long-held ultra-easy monetary policy and curb the yen's slide against the U.S. dollar.

The Bank of Japan unanimously decided to keep its policy rate unchanged at 0.25%. Amid growing confidence in achieving its sustainable inflation target, the BoJ will closely watch the impact of FX movements on inflation. The timing of the next hike remains uncertain, but we see a chance of a hike in December.

The Bank of Japan began a two-day policy meeting Thursday amid growing expectations that the central bank would keep interest rates s