The Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided to end its negative short-term policy rate, which started in January 2016, and its yield curve control scheme, introduced in September in 2016. The policy rate hike is the first since July 2006, says S&P Global Market Intelligence. The bank will probably maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy over the near term.Although the decisions are the first moves toward normalising Japan's monetary policy, the bank will not likely rush changes to its framework, given that inflation is unlikely to accelerate significantly beyond about 2 per cent under the current economic growth outlook, the analysis said.