(Reuters) -The Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady on Thursday and raised its inflation forecast for the current fiscal year, signalling cautious optimism that Japan’s trade deal with the U.S. would help the economy avert a steep downturn.

As widely expected, the central bank maintained short-term interest rates at 0.5% by a unanimous vote at the two-day policy meeting that ended on Thursday.

Following are excerpts from BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda’s comments at his post-meeting news conference, which was conducted in Japanese, as translated by Reuters:

INTEREST RATE TRAJECTORY

“If the economy and prices move in line with our forecast, we expect to continue raising interest rates and adjust the degree of monetary support in accordance to improvements in economic and price developments.

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