Tokyo, Ramadan 2, 1436, Jun 19, 2015, SPA -- Japan's central bank said Friday it would keep its aggressive monetary easing steps to combat deflation and stimulate the world's third-largest economy. The Bank of Japan's policy board voted to maintain its key policy of increasing base money at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen (650 billion dollars) through asset purchases, dpa quoted the bank as saying in a statement issued after a two-day meeting. The bank decided in April 2013 to introduce aggressive monetary easing measures to achieve 2-percent inflation within about two years in a country which has been plagued by deflation for nearly two decades. In April, Japan's consumer prices climbed for the second straight month, rising 0.3 percent compared to a year earlier, still far below the 2-percent target set by the bank. The rate has slowed partly due to plunging oil prices. --SPA 15:08 LOCAL TIME 12:08 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w