Japan central bank says economy on the mend, reaffirms ultra-loose monetary policy

TOKYO – Japan's central bank ended a board meeting with no change to its ultra-loose monetary policy while pointing to signs of improvement in the economy.

The Bank of Japan noted that lower energy costs due to the plunge in crude prices will slow progress toward its inflation target of 2 percent.

But it cited a recovery in exports and increased corporate investment as evidence that the world's third-largest economy is in a "moderate recovery trend." Japan exited a recession in the last quarter of 2014.

The bank said housing investment, a recent weak point, is beginning to bottom out.

The BOJ is injecting tens of trillions of yen (hundreds of billions of dollars) into the economy each year to encourage business investment and push prices higher, in turn weakening Japan's currency.