The new Bank of Japan Law states that, "currency and monetary control shall be aimed at, through the pursuit of price stability, contributing to the sound development of the national economy" (Article 2). The dual mandate of sustainable growth under price stability is similar to the "maximum employment and price stability" mandate of the Federal Reserve.
It is different from the hierarchical or lexicographic ranking of the ECB which attaches overriding importance to maintaining price stability (Papademos(2006)). Quantitative easing policy 4.