Japan Does not Intend to Ease Credit - Officials

The Bank of Japan does not intend to ease credit policy further, bank officials told Reuters.

They were responding to rumours in the Japanese bond market that the central bank was planning to cut its 2.5 pct discount rate soon, possibly before Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone leaves for Washington on April 29.

Bank of Japan governor Satoshi Sumita will be in Osaka, western Japan on April 27 and 28 for the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, making a rate cut announcement early next week a virtual impossibility, they said. April 29 is a holiday here.