BoJ starts policy board meeting; no rate hike expected

TOKYO (AP) - Japan's central bank began a two-day policy board meeting Wednesday amid expectations it will leave key interest rates unchanged.

Analysts say it's unlikely the Bank of Japan _ while officially independent from the government _ will risk rattling markets or the public by tightening credit before July 29 parliamentary elections.

But some analysts think the central bank will raise rates, currently at 0.5 percent, in August, after the elections. The bank last raised its benchmark interest rate in February, lifting it from 0.25 percent.

Bank officials will be studying signs of the nation's economic recovery and stability of prices.

Japan is emerging from a decade-long slowdown in recent years, although deflation _ a state of falling prices _ remains a risk. The country's core consumer price index for May fell 0.1 percent, the fourth straight monthly decline.

Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui has maintained that if the outlook for the economy is convincingly solid, raising interest rates is possible even if consumer prices are falling slightly.