 Despite this fact, many commentators called the scope of the Federal Reserve quantitative easing program after the 2008 crisis "unprecedented".A policy termed "quantitative easing" (量的金融緩和, "ryōteki kin'yū kanwa") was first used by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to fight domestic deflation in the early 2000s.The BOJ had maintained short-term interest rates at close to zero since 1999.