Japan's Central Bank injected Monday a record 15 trillion yen ($184 billion) into money markets and eased monetary policy. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average slid 633.94 points, or 6.2 percent, to 9,620.49, extending losses from Friday, according to a report of the Associated Press. The earthquake hit shortly before markets closed for the weekend. The Bank of Japan moved quickly to try to keep financial markets stable. By flooding the banking system with cash, it hopes banks will continue lending money and meet the likely surge in demand for post-earthquake funds. Later in the day, its nine-member policy board gathered for a shortened meeting and voted unanimously to ease monetary policy. It will expand the size of an existing program to buy assets _ such as government and corporate bonds _ by 5 trillion yen to 40 trillion yen ($486.4 billion). It also decided to keep its key interest rate at virtually zero. «The damage of the earthquake has been geographically widespread, and thus, for the time being production is likely to decline,» the central bank said in its statement.
