The Bank of Japan is set to refrain from additional monetary easing next week because of signs of strength in the global economy and a boost from reconstruction work following the earthquake and tsunami last March.
Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa's board will maintain the overnight lending rate at between zero and 0.1 percent on Feb. 14, according to all 13 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. A ¥55 trillion asset-purchase program will remain unchanged, 12 said.
The Bank of England announced additional stimulus Thursday and the U.S. has pledged to keep interest rates "exceptionally low" through late 2014 as Europe's crisis caps global growth. In Tokyo, officials may focus on more positive signs, such as gains in financial markets and reduced U.S. unemployment, even as strength in the yen crimps exports and analysts estimate the economy contracted for three of the past four quarters.