Kidal, 1, 500km (930 miles) north-east of the capital Bamako, was until recently under thecontrol of the Ansar Dine Islamist group, which has strong ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
"The BOJ's commitment to adopt 'monetary base control' clearly is a strong message to the markets about enhancement of the monetary policy, in terms of both working on asset prices and controlling market inflation expectations, " Nishioka added.