The Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said at a press conference on Friday that the central bank expanded its quantitative and qualitative easing "to ensure the early achievement of our price target". He added that "now is a critical moment for Japan to emerge from deflation".

Kuroda said that Japan's economy continues to recover, but falling oil prices, slowing global growth and weak household spending after the tax hike had a negative impact on price growth.