Bank of Japan holds firm on policy despite falling yen

April 26 (UPI) -- Japan's central bank stood pat and declined to make a policy change on Friday despite a falling yen because it has not played a major factor on inflation.

Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said while they will continue to closely monitor how a weak yen is affecting the Japanese economy, it would likely not take action unless it "cannot be ignored."

The yen fell past 156 against the U.S. dollar shortly after the central bank's decision not to change interest rates, currently 0% to 0.1%, fearing that the government would take action to end the slippage.

"Our expectations are that private consumption will increase as inflation slows and real wages improve," Ueda said. "Whether this will become a reality is a key point in guiding our policy."

The bank said it would maintain its March decision to purchase bonds. The Bank of Japan snapped up $83.3 billion worth of bonds in the past.

The central bank had ended its longstanding negative interest rate policy in March and ended its yield curve control policy.

The Japanese yen last month had tumbled to a 34-year low against the U.S. dollar since 1990, at that time temporarily fell to 151.97 per dollar level.