After the yen exchange rate hit a 34-year low earlier this week, the Bank of Japan left the interest rate policy unchanged at the end of a two-day policy meeting on Friday. According to the policy statement, the Bank of Japan maintained the benchmark interest rate range of 0% to 0.1%. Economists generally anticipated this laid-back decision. The bank removed claims about buying roughly the same amount of treasury bonds as before in the statement. The footnote shows that it has purchased about 6 trillion yen (38.5 billion US dollars) of treasury bonds every month in the past. After the announcement of the policy decision, the yen initially fluctuated between intraday highs and lows, then fell. At 12:33 Tokyo time, the yen fell 0.3% against the US dollar to 156.04, a new 34-year low. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will hold a press conference at 15:30 local time to explain in detail the thoughts behind the decision, future interest rate paths, and inflation prospects.