BOJ leaves open possibility of rate hike, bond buy reductions in July

TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan on Friday decided to reduce its purchases of Japanese government bonds, but only after collecting views from market participants and working out reduction details for the coming one to two years at its meeting on July 30-31, signaling a cautious approach to a form of tightening that could impact the real economy.

Until then, the BOJ says it will continue purchases at the current pace, around 6 trillion yen ($38.1 billion) per month.