The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Friday and confirmed that its economy was picking up momentum, after several years of weak economic figures.

The Bank also upgraded its assessment of private consumption for the first time in six months, but added that its extensive stimulus programme would remain in place for the near future as inflation lags well below the Bank’s target.

“There’s some distance to achieving 2 percent inflation, so it’s inappropriate to say now specifically how we will exit our ultra-loose monetary policy, and how that could affect the BOJ’s financial health,” the Bank’s governor Haruhiko Kuroda told a news conference.

“We will debate an exit strategy only after 2 percent inflation is achieved and price growth stays there stably.”

The Japanese economy has been flagging for several years, falling into recession three times since the financial crisis. Last year the Bank of Japan announced a dramatic stimulus programme designed to boost economic growth, with recent figures showing that it may be beginning to pay off.