Japan Finance Minister Aso says monetary policy up to the BOJ to decide

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday that monetary policy was up to the Bank of Japan to decide, when asked about the possibility of the central bank's deepening negative interest rates.

The central bank kept monetary policy steady on Thursday but signalled the chance of expanding stimulus as early as its next policy meeting in October by issuing a stronger warning against overseas risks threatening the export-reliant economy.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)