Japan’s central bank keeps key interest rate at 0.1 percent

Japan’s central bank keeps rates steady

TOKYO — Japan’s central bank has kept its benchmark interest rate steady amid signs that the economy has ended its slide.

The Bank of Japan’s eight-member policy board voted unanimously to leave its overnight call rate target unchanged at 0.1 percent, as widely expected by the market.

“Japan’s economic conditions have stopped worsening,” the central bank says in a statement. “Public investment is increasing and exports and production are picking up.”

The Bank of Japan is also extending various measures intended to facilitate corporate financing.