"The Bank, in accordance with the short-term policy interest rate of minus 0.1 percent and the target level of the long-term interest rate, both decided at the previous meeting on December 19 and 20, 2016, had been providing funds through purchases of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) and other measures.6 In this situation, 10-year JGB yields had been at around 0 percent, and the shape of the JGB yield curve had been consistent with the guideline for market operations.

In the money market, interest rates on both overnight and term instruments had generally been in negative territory. The uncollateralized overnight call rate had been in the range of around minus 0.03 to minus 0.06 percent. As for interest rates on term instruments, yields on three-month treasury discount bills (T-Bills) had been at around minus 0.3 percent recently. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average had fallen somewhat since the start of the year, reflecting the yen's appreciation against the U.S. dollar, but rebounded thereafter and had been more or less flat throughout the intermeeting period. In the foreign exchange market, the yen had been appreciating against the U.S. dollar since the start of the year, partly due to the decline in U.S. interest rates. Meanwhile, the yen had been essentially flat against the euro".