Category: Bank of Japan

BOJ Maintains Stimulus, Vows to Continue Unlimited Bond Buying

TOKYO—The Bank of Japan maintained its massive stimulus on Thursday and pledged to continue buying unlimited amounts of 10-year government bonds to defend its implicit 0.25 percent cap, signaling its resolve to focus on supporting a fragile economy. The BOJ also left unchanged its guidance to keep its interest rate targets at current or lower…


IMF Says Yen Falls Driven by Fundamentals, Urges BOJ to Keep Easy Policy

TOKYO—The yen’s recent declines have been driven by fundamentals and would be no reason for Japan to change its economic policy, including the central bank’s ultra-low interest rates, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said. The remarks highlight the difficulty Tokyo may face if it sought international consent to intervene in the currency market…


BOJ Kuroda Tones up Warning on Weak Yen, Says Moves ‘Somewhat Rapid’

TOKYO—Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Tuesday the yen’s recent moves were “somewhat rapid”, joining a chorus of policymakers who have warned that sharp falls in the currency could hurt the country’s import-reliant economy. The remark was the strongest warning by Kuroda on yen moves since the currency’s slide to a six-year…


BOJ Stands Its Ground on Benchmark Yield as Global Rates Pressure Builds

TOKYO—Japan’s central bank stepped up efforts on Wednesday to keep a key bond yield below a red line, offering to buy more government debt, including through ad-hoc purchases, to hold down interest rates against a pull higher by global yields. The intervention comes as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) seeks to keep monetary policy ultra-loose,…


BOJ Ramps up Battle to Defend Yield Cap Even as Weakening Yen Raises Economic Risk

TOKYO—The Bank of Japan kept up its relentless quest to defend a key yield cap by offering to buy unlimited amounts of 10-year government bonds on Tuesday, underscoring its resolve to keep policy ultra-loose and putting downward pressure on the yen. The BOJ’s intervention raised the stakes for policymakers in the world’s third-largest economy as…


BOJ Offers 4 Days Unlimited Bond-Buying to Defend Yield Cap

TOKYO—Struggling to swim against the tide taking interest rates higher globally, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) staunchly defended its 0.25 percent yield cap on Monday by offering to buy an unlimited amount of government bonds for the first four days of this week. The BOJ’s defense of its ultra-loose policy pushed the yen to a…


BOJ’s Kuroda Sees Inflation Remaining Short of 2 Percent Target

TOKYO—Japan is unlikely to see inflation hitting a central bank target of 2 percent, even accounting for rising energy costs, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday, making the case for keeping monetary policy ultra-easy. His remark highlights the widening divergence between the BOJ’s dovish stance and the U.S. Federal Reserve, which raised…


IMF Urges Japan to Raise Taxes and Scale Down Emergency Pandemic Support

Japan’s tax revenues in Growth Domestic Product (GDP) have left room for the country to raise some tax rates while scaling down emergency pandemic support, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its report on Thursday. According to IMF, Japan’s policy response to the pandemic has been “exceptionally strong,” with the country’s GDP forecast to…


IMF Urges Japan to Raise Taxes, Scale Down Emergency Pandemic Support

Japan’s tax revenues in Growth Domestic Product (GDP) have left room for the country to raise some tax rates while scaling down emergency pandemic support, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its report on Thursday. According to IMF, Japan’s policy response to the pandemic has been “exceptionally strong,” with the country’s GDP forecast to…


Easy Money Policies to Continue Post-COVID: Japan’s Central Bank Chief

The head of Japan’s central bank told local outlet Nikkei on Sept. 8 that accommodative monetary policy would continue even after the pandemic subsides in a bid to hit a 2 percent inflation target, a goal that has been undershot for years. Haruhiko Kuroda, Governor of the Bank of Japan, said that the central bank’s…