(19 March 2010 – Japan) Japan’s central bank has doubled the amount of cash it will make available to the nation’s banks, in an effort to boost the country’s stuttering economic recovery.The central bank also decided to keep its key interest rate at the record low of 0.1 percent, a level it has maintained since December 2008, the height of the global financial market meltdown.
Under government pressure to help fight deflation, the Bank of Japan said it would extend emergency steps taken in December by boosting its short-term loan facility to 20 trillion yen (A$238 million).
The facility offers three-month loans at 0.1 percent against collateral such as government bonds and corporate debt. However, markets had been expecting the loan duration to be extended to at least six months.
The Bank of Japan’s governor, Masaaki Shirakawa, said at a news conference that the measures are expected to ensure the stability of the economy and prices by helping corporate financing.