Japan
Doubts over Japan recovery
UK - Data released Wednesday suggested Japan's fragile export-led recovery might have peaked.
Takenaka admits Japan's debt-deflation spiral
JAPAN - Japan's economic and financial services 'super-minister', Heizo Takenaka, formally acknowledged Tuesday that the nation's economy is caught in a 'vicious circle' of debt and deflation, and that it will be difficult to get the government's own…
Minutes of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting
MINUTES - Minutes of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting on 17 and 18 September 2002, released 5 November. The Policy Board noted Japan's economy has almost stabilised as a whole thanks to an export increase and the associated expansion of…
BOJ must set inflation target to prompt growth
ARTICLE - As the government's effort to end the bad-debt quandary is apparently shifting into a higher gear, concerns are growing that accelerated bad-loan write-offs could worsen, at least in the short term, the deflation that is sapping Japan's…
Tokyo shares surge as Asia awaits Fed
JAPAN - Japanese shares jumped nearly three percent Tuesday, while most other Asian stock markets paused to pocket profits, as investors looked forward to an expected cut in U.S. interest rates.
Europe's best defence against deflation
ARTICLE - Many people are worried about deflation. Severe deflation, as in the early 1930s, is catastrophic; mild deflation, as in Japan today, could become self-reinforcing. There are, moreover, similarities between early 1990s Japan and parts of Europe…
How to get growth in Japan
What Japan needs is a massive boost, not to the monetary base, but to domestic credit creation. Richard Werner outlines how this could be brought about.
Koizumi set for back-seat role on bad loan reforms
JAPAN - Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, yesterday suggested he would not play an active political role in implementing measures to clean up bad loans, saying he would leave the details to economic tsar Heizo Takenaka.
Japan under pressure for more policy action
JAPAN - Pressure on Japanese policymakers to ease the deflationary burden on the economy mounted on Friday, as economists voiced doubts over the effectiveness of new reform plans and a top U.S. official called for more aggressive action.
Tokyo stocks fall more than 1 percent Thursday
JAPAN - Tokyo stocks fell more than 1 percent Thursday after a long awaited government economic package failed to impress investors, who sold select blue chip shares. The dollar slid against the yen.
Bank of Japan Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Change in the Guideline for Money Market Operations, 30 October.
Bank of Japan eases monetary policy further
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan on Wednesday unanimously decided to further ease its monetary policy for the first time in eight months, in a bid to complement the government's "anti-deflation" package, also released today.
Japan shies away from radical banking reform
JAPAN - The government of Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, on Wednesday night backed away from imminent action to clean up the financial system after pressure to water down proposals from bankers and from the ruling Liberal Democratic party.
Bank of Japan - Annual Report 2002
ANNUAL REPORT - The Bank of Japan has published its Annual Report for the year ended 2002.
Takenaka woos banks over his reform plans
JAPAN - Heizo Takenaka, Japan's economics and financial services minister, continued a frantic round of diplomacy yesterday as he sought to secure the backing of bankers and politicians for his plan to revive the financial sector before its release this…
Japan's Takenaka starts diplomatic offensive
JAPAN - Heizo Takenaka, Japan's economics and financial services minister, continued a frantic round of diplomacy on Monday as he sought to secure the backing of bankers and politicians for his plan to revive the financial sector ahead of its release…
Japan's economy is not that sick
LETTER - Letter published in the Financial Times, UK edition, 28 October, on Japan's economic problems and a potential solution.
Japan faces fourth year of falling prices
JAPAN - Japan is on track to enter its fourth consecutive year of deflation - a phenomenon not seen in any postwar industrialised country - as the country's core consumer price index tumbled for the 36th consecutive month in September.
Takenaka apology leaves bank reform in turmoil
JAPAN - Confusion over Japan's proposed banking reform deepened yesterday as Heizo Takenaka, this month empowered by Junichiro Koizumi, the prime minister, to clean up the financial system, apologised to parliament for remarks suggesting that no company…
Takenaka faces no-confidence vote in Japan
JAPAN - Heizo Takenaka, Japan's embattled economic czar, will today face a parliamentary vote of no confidence as the opposition tries to exploit a clash within the ruling Liberal Democratic party over how to tackle the country's banking crisis.
Hayami pans adoption of inflation target for Japan
JAPAN - Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Thursday rejected the notion of adopting an inflation target as a means of helping to raise prices and fight deflation. "There is no data to support the procedure and the way to achieve it," Hayami told a…
ECB Working Paper Series
RESEARCH - 'Monetary policy and the zero bound to interest rates: a review', by Tony Yates, October 2002. The paper reviews the literature on what the zero bound to nominal interest rates implies for the conduct of monetary policy. A situation familiar…
Tokyo abandons unveiling of bad loans plan
JAPAN - Heizo Takenaka, economy minister and chief bank regulator, was forced to postpone the unveiling of his plan to deal with Japan's bad loans raising suspicions that the ruling Liberal Democratic party has big disagreements with his proposals.
Bank of Japan Monthly Report, October 2002
REPORT - The Bank of Japan published its Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments, October 2002, on 16 October. In its report the Bank says that Japan's economy has stabilised as a whole, but clear signs of recovery have not yet been…