Bank of Japan keeps record stimulus after inflation decreases to zero

The Bank of Japan kept its policy unchanged as Governor Haruhiko Kuroda tries to head off a drop in consumer prices two years after he began unprecedented stimulus in the world's third-biggest economy.

The central bank maintained a plan to expand the monetary base at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen ($666 billion), as forecast by all 34 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

Kuroda's bid to spur 2 percent inflation is facing a test, with the BOJ's main gauge sinking to zero because of cheaper oil and the weakness in Japan's recovery from recession. While most economists forecast another boost in stimulus by October, policymakers are confident for now that a virtuous cycle of rising profits, wages and expectations for price gains will lift inflation to their goal.