The bank of japan

The Bank of Japan has opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 0।5% for the seventh month in a row. The move - favoured by eight out of the board's nine members - had been widely expected in the wake of recent turmoil in financial markets worldwide। However, some analysts believe that when market stability returns, Japan will resume rate rises. There have been concerns that a slowdown in the US economy - Japan's biggest market - could hit exports. But demand from emerging markets and Europe has offset some of this, analysts say.