The Japanese Yen hit its lowest level in three decades against the Dollar on Friday as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept interest rates on hold.

The Yen was down 0.3% at 156.21 per Dollar in afternoon trading in Asia, the weakest since 1990.

In addition, the Japanese currency fell to its weakest in nearly 16 years against the Euro at 167.5, and its lowest in almost a decade against the Australian Dollar.

Following a two-day meeting, the Bank of Japan held its short-term interest rate target at 0-0.1%, Reuters reports, and made minor upward modifications to its inflation forecast.

"There is little indication the BOJ is considering raising rates in the near term," said Prashant Newnaha, senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities in Singapore.

"Today's... meeting greenlights the Yen carry trade and could see USD/JPY accelerate towards 160-161 over coming weeks."

The Yen's 9.7% fall against the Dollar this year is the largest of any G10 currency, predominantly fuelled by the gap between US and Japanese government bond yields.

"If Dollar/Yen keeps going up, (intervention) wouldn't surprise ... given you've had a lot of Yen weakness and a lot of very public pushback from Japanese officials," stated Joe Capurso, a Commonwealth Bank of Australia strategist.

"The market's not really taken it seriously, so at some point they'll draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough."

The Yen has dropped below the levels of 152 and 155 against the Dollar, where traders were cautious about potential intervention.  

Japanese Finance Minister, Shunichi Suzuki stated on Friday that he is closely monitoring currency fluctuations and is ready to take decisive action if necessary.