The Bank of Japan on Tuesday cut its official discount rate by 0.15 percentage point to a record low of 0.35 percent in line with a decision made at its Policy Board meeting Friday.
The central bank also resumed outright purchases of short-term government securities for the first time in 10 months -- a move also decided at the meeting.
The bank entered the market in order to buy some 100 billion yen in government debt, mainly one-year bills, without a resale condition to leave infused funds in the markets, money traders said.