Under heavy pressure to do more to help rid the economy of debilitating deflation, the Bank of Japan's policy board voted unanimously to increase the asset purchasing program by 11 trillion yen ($139 billion) to 91 trillion yen ($1.15 trillion).
"The critical challenge for Japan's economy is to overcome deflation as early as possible and to return to a sustainable growth path with price stability," the government and central bank said in a joint statement.