Japan PM Abe: Oil price falls benefit Japan's economy

"The Bank of Japan is implementing bold monetary easing to achieve its 2 percent inflation target. It's up to the BOJ to decide on specific monetary means to achieve this," Abe told a news conference.

Slumping oil prices have nudged annual core consumer inflation to 0.2 percent in January, pushing it further away from the BOJ's 2 percent target and keeping alive market expectations that it will ease policy again later this year.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)