TOKYO — Japan's central bank is escalating the fight against deflation by offering more cheap loans to banks.

The Bank of Japan voted after a two-day policy board meeting today to double the amount available under its short-term lending program to 20 trillion yen ($442 billion) from 10 trillion yen.

Introduced in December, the three-month loans at a fixed rate of 0.1 percent are intended to boost liquidity and lower longer-term interest rates.

It also voted unanimously to keep its key interest rate at a super low 0.1 percent.