Japan’s central bank has vowed to fight deflation as it announced interest rates would remain at 0.1%.

“It is a critical challenge for Japan’s economy to overcome deflation,” the bank said in a statement.

It added it “would not tolerate” annual price rises at, or below, zero. The consumer price index fell at an annual rate of 2.2% in October.

The central bank promised to keep interest rates low, but did not specify how it planned to tackle deflation.

“They’re trying to show that they are going all out to stop deflation,” said Adrian Foster from Rabobank International in Hong Kong.

“This is aimed at reinforcing that the Bank of Japan and the finance ministry are in sync and that they don’t want a stronger yen because of deflation.”