Tokyo, Aug 14 (BridgeNews) - In the face of growing political pressure, Bank of Japan policy board members decided to ease monetary policy to counter deflationary concerns in the world's second largest economy. The board voted to increase the current account balance to 6 trillion yen from 5 trillion yen, but left the discount rate unchanged at 0.25%. The board also increased its monthly outright purchases of government bonds to 600 billion yen from 400 billion yen. The easing is the first since March 19 when the central bank conducted a quantitative easing. BOJ Governor Masaru Hayami will meet the press at 1415 JT.