- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
Bank of Japan maintains monetary easing but plans review
The Bank of Japan announced a review of its longstanding monetary easing measures on Friday, but said it would maintain them for the time being in the first policy decision under new governor Kazuo Ueda.
Analysts say the central bank's stimulus measures, which have been in place for a decade and were supposed to deliver a vital boost to the Japanese economy, are looking increasingly unsustainable.
"The bank has decided to conduct a broad-perspective review of monetary policy, with a planned time frame of around one to one-and-a-half years," a BoJ statement issued after a two-day meeting said.
In the immediate term, the institution left its negative interest rate in place and did not adjust the band in which rates for 10-year government bonds fluctuate.
No major policy overhaul had been expected from former economics professor Ueda, who took over this month from Haruhiko Kuroda, the architect of the bank's signature ultra-loose strategy.
Moving away from monetary easing will be a tricky balancing act for Ueda, who faces pressure to normalise the bank's policy while minimising any shock to the economy.
The yen's value has weakened since early 2022 because the BoJ has consistently bucked the global trend of aggressive interest rate hikes to battle inflation.
The bank's two-percent inflation target has been surpassed every month since April 2022, but the central bank argues rises are linked to temporary trends such as the Ukraine war.
Ueda has called the BoJ's current stance "appropriate" and warned of the risk of sudden moves, given global economic uncertainty.
After Friday's BoJ announcement the yen fell to 134.86 yen against the dollar, from 133.83 in morning trade.
- Inflation forecast -
The BoJ hiked its inflation forecasts for the current and next financial years, excluding volatile fresh food prices.
It now predicts 1.8 percent in 2023-24, and two percent in 2024-25, "mainly due to a higher projection for wages".
Salaries have been stubbornly stagnant in Japan but there are signs they may finally be rising, with major companies including Toyota, Nintendo and Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing announcing substantial wage hikes in recent months.
In 2025-26, the bank expects a dip in inflation to 1.6 percent.
The BoJ's approach dates to the era of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, whose "Abenomics" plan aimed to stimulate growth and banish the deflation that plagued Japan from the end of the 1980s boom.
Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist of Nomura Research Institute, said in a note last week that the demand-driven two-percent inflation the bank wants is hard to attain.
"Ueda must be thinking that achieving the two percent inflation goal in a sustainable way would be difficult," Kiuchi said.
Instead, the target could first be made more "flexible", for example by setting it as a mid- to long-term goal, he suggested.
On Friday the BoJ also lowered its growth forecast for Japan for the current financial year, to 1.4 percent compared to 1.7 percent previously.
"There are extremely high uncertainties for Japan's economy, including developments in overseas economic activity and prices, as well as developments in the situation surrounding Ukraine and in commodity prices," it warned.
P.Kolisnyk--CPN