Bank of Japan (BoJ)
Japan loosens monetary policy
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has decided to make borrowing money cheaper as the weight of huge bad debts and sliding prices continues to cripple the country's domestic economy.
BoJ urges move on measurement of bad loans
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan has discreetly urged the Financial Supervisory Agency, the main regulator in Japan, to develop better methods for measuring questionable bank loans, writes the Financial Times in London, 19 July.
No change in Japan gov't economic assessment
JAPAN - Vice Finance Minister Toshiro Muto said on 16 July that the government stands by its assessment of Japan's economy although the Bank of Japan (BOJ) slightly downgraded its economic assessment in its latest monthly report on economic and financial…
Takenaka 'not dissatisfied' with BOJ's decision
JAPAN - Heizo Takenaka, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, said 13 July he is "not dissatisfied" with the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) decision to keep monetary policy unchanged.
Speech by Yutaka Yamaguchi Dep Gov Bank of Japan
SPEECH - Yutaka Yamaguchi, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan, gave a speech at the Edinburgh Finance & Investment Seminar, on 22 June. The speech was published on 9 July.
MOF denies asking BOJ to use inflation targets
JAPAN - Japanese Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa on 29 June played down a media report that government representatives at the Bank of Japan policy board meeting yesterday, 28 June, had put a strong request to the central bank to introduce an inflation…
Bank of Japan Monthly Report June 2001
RESEARCH - The Bank of Japan has produced its Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments for June 2001.
Bank of Japan makes policy board appointment
JAPAN - Shin Nakahara has been appointed to the policy board of the Bank of Japan. He succeeds Susumu Taketomi whose term has ended. Nakahara was deputy president of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
BOJ board keeps monetary policy unchanged
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept its already super-loose policy unchanged on 15 June, resisting political pressure for even more monetary firepower to stop the economy from deteriorating further.
No plan to change Japanese growth outlook
JAPAN - Japanese Minister of Finance Masajuro Shiokawa said on 13 June that at present, he is not considering revising the government's projection of 1.7 percent economic growth for fiscal year 2001, ending in March 2002.
Bank of Japan research paper - zero interest rates
RESEARCH - The Bank of Japan has published a research paper 'Monetary Policy Under the Zero Interest Rate Constraint and Balance Sheet Adjustment'. The paper is written by Masaaki Shirakawa, advisor to the governor, Bank of Japan.
Hayami repeats reform need for economic recovery
JAPAN - Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami played up the need for Japan to promote structural reforms in order to help its depressed economy get back on track.
BOJ maintains gloomy overall view of economy
TOKYO - The Bank of Japan maintained its gloomy overall view on business conditions on 21 May, saying weaker exports were denting production and keeping the economy stuck in an adjustment phase.
Monthly economic report from Bank of Japan
Japan - The Bank of Japan published its monthly monetary policy report of recent economic and financial developments on 21 May.
Monetary policy and the economic outlook in Japan
SPEECH - Given by Kazuo Ueda, Member of the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan, at Council on Foreign Relations in New York, May 11.
Chief denies Bank of Japan Governor will resign
JAPAN - Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, categorically ruled out the possibility that Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami will resign soon. He was speaking on 9 May.
Ex-BOJ Fukui warns policy shift has dangers
TOKYO - The Bank of Japan's (BOJ) recent adoption of a radically different easy money policy risks driving the yen to excessively low levels and, worse, could set a profligate government on the path to fiscal bankruptcy, a former deputy governor of the…
Bank of Japan Mar 19 meeting minutes
TOKYO - Key points from minutes issued by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on May 1 from the meeting of its Policy Board on Mar 19.
Economic outlook bleak for Japan
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan has painted a bleak economic picture of weak growth combined with intensifying deflation in its half-yearly report. But a 1.6% rise in retail sales in March from a year earlier provided a ray of hope for new Prime Minister…
BoJ to implement RTGS for foreign cbank JGB sales
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan said it will improve its infrastructure to enable Japanese government bond sales by foreign central banks to be settled under the real-time gross settlement system.
Foreign exchange origins of Japan's economic slump
ARTICLE - Ronald McKinnon from Stanford University and Kenichi Ohno from Tokyo's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies have written an article on "The Foreign Exchange Origins of Japan's Economic Slump and Low Interest Liquidity Trap". The…
Developments in the Japanese government bond mkt
CENTRAL BANK RESEARCH - The Bank of Japan has published a new reseach paper "Market Participants' Behavior and Pricing Mechanisms in the JGB Markets". In this paper, which is based on interviews with market participants, the authors explore various…
BOJ considered aggressive easing in Feb-minutes
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan said on Apr 18 its Policy Board members had discussed a much more aggressive monetary easing at a February 28 policy meeting than the small rate cut they actually implemented.
Swiss mon policy during 1970s-lessons for Japan
CENTRAL BANK RESEARCH - Peter Kugler from Basel University and Georg Rich from the Swiss National Bank have published a paper "Monetary Policy Under Low Interest Rates: The Experience of Switzerland in the late 1970s". Using evidence from Switzerland's…