The Bank of Japan Policy Board decided Wednesday to keep its key interest rate at 0.5 percent, after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate the day before.

The BOJ's decision had been widely predicted because it would be hard for the BOJ to tighten credit at a time when the Fed is injecting funds into the banking system, market watchers said.

The Policy Board voted 8-1 at the end of its two-day meeting to maintain the rate. For the third consecutive month, Atsushi Mizuno was the only board member voting to raise the overnight borrowing rate.