TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - The dollar was steady against the yen in midafternoon trade with investors reluctant to take fresh positions ahead of the announcement of anti-deflation measures later today and the Bank of Japan's policy board meeting tomorrow, dealers said. They said the dollar held its firm tone on expectations that Fed chairman Alan Greenspan will make positive comments about the US economy during his Humphrey-Hawkins testimony later today. "If we consider recent comments by officials, it seems that the government will not include an immediate capital injection into banks among the (anti-deflation) measures. It is possible that the yen will be sold actively (against the dollar) after the outcome," a dealer with a local Japanese bank said. State Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka said yesterday the government will decide whether to inject public funds into banks after the release of special inspections by the Financial Services Agency, expected by the end of March. In addition to the lack of optimism towards the anti-deflation measures, investors are also not expecting anything major from the BoJ's meeting tomorrow, dealers said. Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said he believes the Bank of Japan is unlikely to decide on a further monetary easing at its policy board meeting tomorrow, though he suggested the bank may act in a month's time. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said BoJ governor Masaru Hayami has offered a commitment to the government to consider further monetary easing at tomorrow's policy board meeting. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported this morning that BoJ policy board members are considering a possible easing of measures at their meeting tomorrow, which may be done through increased outright purchases of government bonds to around 1 trln yen a month from the current 800 bln. The Japanese bank dealer said some investors expect the BoJ will decide to cut its discount rate, but at the same time added that such a move would have only a limited impact on the forex market. "Market participants have been expecting outright purchases of government bonds to be increased to around 1 trln yen eventually. In addition, the current discount rate is already very low at 0.1 pct. I think most of the measures which the BoJ can take now are very limited," he said. He added that a further strengthening in the dollar will encounter strong resistance around the 135.00 yen level due to expected oral intervention by Japan economic and finance authorities. He sees the dollar/yen moving within the 133.50-135.50 range in the week ahead.