Bank of Japan policymakers believe current economic conditions call for keeping their ultra-easy monetary program in place. The officials cited "developments in economic activity and prices" in the summary of their meeting last week.

The meeting was the focus of much attention because the bank had surprised the market by widening the trading band for 10-year bond yields in December. This led to speculation of a further shift in policy.

But the officials said they would need to examine the risks of higher interest rates and whether market players were prepared for the effects before deciding on additional changes.

The bank also raised its inflation forecast for the fiscal year to 3 percent at the meeting.

But the policymakers expect the rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index to fall below 2 percent in fiscal 2023, and say "at this point, there is still a long way to go to achieve the price stability target."