Policymakers at the Bank of Japan have wrapped up their two-day meeting.

They say they are leaving the central bank's easing program unchanged.

The BOJ will keep its short-term benchmark interest rate in negative territory. And it will continue asset purchases to keep long-term rates around zero percent.

The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond will be allowed to fluctuate in a range of around plus and minus half a percentage point.

Former Governor Kuroda Haruhiko widened that range to its current level last December to correct side effects from years of an ultra-loose policy.