FILE PHOTO: Japanese Vice Minster of Finance Masatsugu Asakawa, Finance Minister Taro Aso, and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda hold a news conference after the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meeting at the IMF and World Bank's 2019 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, April 12, 2019. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan/File Photo
TOKYO - Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday that monetary policy was up to the Bank of Japan to decide, when asked about the possibility of the central bank’s deepening negative interest rates. The central bank kept monetary policy steady on Thursday but signalled the chance of expanding stimulus as early as its next policy meeting in October by issuing a stronger warning against overseas risks threatening the export-reliant economy.