NEW YORK: The dollar hit its highest level against the yen in nearly four years on Monday after the Bank of Japan, in an attempt to eradicate persistent deflation, kicked off an aggressive program of monetary easing.

The BOJ said it would buy 1 trillion yen of government bonds with maturities between five and 10 years, and 200 billion yen of bonds with maturities exceeding 10 years.

The dollar rose as high as 99.37 yen, the highest since May 2009, before pulling back slightly to trade at 99.34 yen, up 1.9 percent on the day.

The euro, meanwhile, pared gains against the dollar and last traded at $1.2994, nearly flat on the day, according to Reuters data.

<Center><b><i>Copyright Reuters, 2013</b></i><br></center>