The Bank of Japan maintained its money printing drive at the current rate on Friday, but reorganized its massive stimulus program to advance premier Shinzo Abe's plans to prod reticent companies into boosting wages and investment.
As widely expected, the central bank kept intact its "quantitative and qualitative easing" target of increasing or cash and deposits in circulation by 80 trillion yen ($660 billion) and the pace at which it buys government bonds and trust funds investing in stocks and property.
But it decided to extend the duration of the Japanese government bonds (JGBs) it buys from 10 to 12 years from 2016 and set up a 300-billion-yen fund to buy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that specifically target firms actively spending on capital expenditure and wages.
BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the new steps do not amount to expanded monetary easing.
Friday's moves underscore the BOJ's resolve to aid Abe's efforts to pressure companies into diverting more of their record profits to wage hikes and new investment, which are crucial to sustainably pull the economy out of deflation.
But the new policy emphasis also underscores the BOJ's concerns over how long it could keep buying assets at the current rate, having already gobbled up 30 percent of JGBs on issue.
The central bank said after its December monetary policy meeting it would initially target ETFs that track the JPX-Nikkei 400 index which features companies that promote transparency and good governance.
The BOJ also said it would start selling from April next year the shares it had bought from financial institutions, giving it the power to buy shares of companies that meet its wage and investment standards and sell shares of those that don't.
Tokyo stock prices initially surged on the announcement but quickly pared gains as markets saw the new steps as a return to the incremental policy style BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said he had abandoned when launching his QQE program in 2013.
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