Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said that the central bank still has room to lower interest rates further. However, there were limits to how long rates could go down, he said at the parliament.

At the last monetary policy meeting in October, the BoJ maintained its policy rates but tweaked its forward guidance signaling further easing.

In the Semiannual Report on Currency and Monetary Control, Kuroda said the momentum toward achieving the price stability target is maintained and the annual inflation is likely to rise gradually toward 2%. Further, he noted that the economy is likely to continue to be affected by the slowdown in overseas economies for the time being.