Nearly 80 percent of economists at financial institutions questioned by Kyodo News expect the Bank of Japan to maintain its current monetary stance and say there is little chance the central bank will return to its "zero-interest-rate" policy within a year.
Against a backdrop of plunging Tokyo stock prices and a slowing U.S. economy, some politicians are hoping the BOJ will reinstate the zero-rate policy to stimulate the economy.
Last August, the BOJ scrapped the policy of guiding the key short-term rate to near zero, defying political pressure to maintain the 18-month-old, ultra-easy monetary policy. The shift marked the first rate hike in 10 years.