TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan kept its monetary stimulus in place on Tuesday as the overall economy is recovering but downgraded its view of exports given recent weak shipments to Asia.

The BOJ, as expected, voted unanimously to maintain its pledge of increasing base money, its key policy gauge, at an annual pace of 60 trillion to 70 trillion yen ($589-$687 billion).

The BOJ raised its assessment on industrial production, saying that pace of gains are increasing somewhat.

The central bank also raised its view of capital expenditure, saying the recovery is becoming more clear.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold an embargoed news conference from 3:30 p.m. (0630 GMT) with his comments expected to come out any time after 4:15 p.m. (0715 GMT).

The BOJ has stood pat since launching an intense burst of stimulus last April, when it pledged to accelerate inflation to 2 percent in roughly two years via aggressive asset purchases in a country mired in deflation for 15 years.