By MarketWatch TOKYO (MarketWatch) - The dollar was higher against the yen in Asian trading Wednesday, recouping earlier losses it made against the Japanese currency after the Bank of Japan kept its key interest rate steady. The dollar rose to 90.65 yen, up from 90.01 yen shortly after the BOJ's decision and from 90.31 yen in late North American trading Tuesday. The BOJ kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0.1% Wednesday by unanimous vote, as had been widely expected, and also announced plans to double the scale of a lending program introduced in December. See full story on Bank of Japan decision. The bank said it will increase the total amount of three-month loans offered through the special program to about 20 trillion yen ($221 billion) from the current amount of around 10 trillion yen. The decision to expand the loan program wasn't unanimous, with policy board members Tadao Noda and Miyako Suda opposing it in the first split vote since last October. "Today's decision gives the market an impression that the BOJ is somewhat behind the curve in achieving showing its proactive stance to fight against critical problems - deflation, rise in real interest rate and strong yen," said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo, in a note to clients. The dollar index (DXY 79.71, -0.04, -0.06%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 79.721, from 79.665 late Tuesday. The euro was buying $1.3770, compared to $1.3779 late Tuesday, while the British pound gained against the greenback to $1.5324, from $1.5259. On Tuesday, the dollar fell to the lowest level versus the euro in five weeks after the U.S. Federal Reserve reiterated its promise to keep interest rates low for an extended period, noting high unemployment and inflation remained subdued. See Tuesday's Currencies report.

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