BoJ Minutes On Tap For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Bank of Japan will on Wednesday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on January 20-21, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

At the meeting, the central bank decided to maintain its monetary policy unchanged but raised the growth projections, citing the impetus from the fiscal stimulus measures. The board voted 7-1 to retain the interest rate at -0.1 percent.

The bank will continue to purchase necessary amount of Japanese government bonds without setting an upper limit so that 10-year JGB yields will remain at around zero percent.

Japan also will see March results for the manufacturing, services and composite indexes from Jibun Bank. In February, their scores were 51.4, 46.3 and 48.2, respectively.

Australia also will see March numbers for the manufacturing, services and composite PMIs from Markit Economics. In February, their scores were 56.9, 53.4 and 53.7, respectively.

New Zealand will release February figures for imports, exports and trade balance. In January, imports were worth NZ$4.82 billion and exports were at NZ$4.19 billion for a trade deficit of NZ$626 million.

Thailand will provide February data for imports, exports and trade balance and January jobless figures. In January, imports were down 5.24 percent on year and exports rose 0.35 percent for a trade deficit of $0.2 billion. In December, the unemployment rate was 1.5 percent.

The Thai central bank will also wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 0.50 percent.