The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday and maintained its upbeat view of the economy, signalling its conviction that a solid recovery will gradually accelerate inflation towards its 2 percent target without additional stimulus.

But new board member Goushi Kataoka dissented to the BOJ's decision to maintain its interest rate targets, saying current monetary policy was insufficient to push inflation up to 2 percent during fiscal 2019.

In a widely expected move, the BOJ maintained the 0.1 percent interest it charges on a portion of excess reserves that financial institutions park at the central bank.

At the two-day policy meeting that ended on Thursday, it also kept its yield target for 10-year Japanese government bonds around zero percent.

The decision was made by an eight-to-one vote.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. (0630 GMT) to explain the policy decision.

The BOJ revamped its policy framework last year to one targeting interest rates rather than the pace of money printing, after three years of huge asset purchases failed to drive up inflation to its 2 percent target.