TOKYO, June 15 - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Friday he respected the Bank of Japan's decision to keep monetary policy unchanged, Jiji news agency reported.
Earlier in the day, the BOJ's Policy Board decided to keep its monetary policy unchanged despite mounting political pressure for it to ease its already ultra-loose policy in the wake of data earlier showing Japan's economy had contracted in the first quarter and a downgrade in the government's economic assessment.
"I want to respect the BOJ's decision," Jiji quoted Koizumi as saying.
On Thursday, BOJ Governor Masaru Hayami said he saw no need for an additional easing for now, stressing that monetary conditions were already accommodative after the central bank's March 19 decision to adopt a so-called quantitative easing policy which effectively pushed down interest rates to nearly zero.