The Bank of Japan has left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5% for the third meeting in a row as expected. The nine-member board voted unanimously to hold the rate steady.
The decision came just hours after the government said Japan's core consumer prices fell by a bigger than expected 0.3% in March, down for a second straight month.
The central bank last raised interest rates in February, by a quarter point, which was the first increase since July when the BoJ ended more than five years of virtually free credit.
BoJ governor Toshihiko Fukui has said he hopes to keep raising interest rates gradually but he faces political resistance to further moves.
