Japan's central bank left its interest rates unchanged at 0.5% today, as expected, amid growing worries about the health of the global economy.
The unanimous decision was made at the end of a two-day meeting that the Bank of Japan was forced to hold with no permanent governor after the post fell vacant last month for the first time in eight decades.
Parliament later voted through the government's third candidate for the top job, deputy governor Masaaki Shirakawa, a career central banker who has been acting head since last month.
The Bank of Japan in 2006 raised interest rates for the first time in almost six years. It hiked rates again in February last year but has held them steady since then amid worries about the economic climate and financial market volatility.
Jitters about the health of Asia's largest economy have grown amid deteriorating business confidence, sluggish industrial production and slumping exports to the US amid recession fears there.
Some economists believe the BoJ will soon be forced to cut interest rates if Japan follows the US into recession, but others argue that the central bank is more likely to maintain rates at current levels for now.
