Japan
BOJ should create inflation to fight deflation
INTERVIEW - The best way to fight deflation is to create inflation, according to Kikuo Iwata, professor at Gakushuin University, who suggests the Bank of Japan set an inflation target of 1 to 3 percent for the next 12 months.
Japan already has its very own Greenspan
ARTICLE - "Japan needs an Alan Greenspan," some Japanese intellectuals recently demanded, and then went on to debate who the nation's own Greenspan might be. Given the country's dire economic straits, it is understandable that Japanese eyes are being…
Japan's Koizumi vows 'bold' action on economy
JAPAN - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed Friday to take "bold" action to pull Japan's economy out of its slump and stressed the importance of dialogue to resolve concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Bank of Japan Stock Purchase Guidelines
GUIDELINES - At a regular board meeting held 11 October, the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan approved basic guidelines on the purchase of stocks held by commercial banks.
Bank of Japan Stock Purchase
REPORT - The Outline of the Stock Purchasing Plan, 11 October.
Bank of Japan report on non-performing loans
REPORT - Japan's Non-Performing Loan Problem, 11 October.
Inflation target an option but not now - Hayami
JAPAN - Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami said on Wednesday that the central bank may consider an inflation-targeting policy in the future but not at the moment as Japanese prices continue to fall.
Tokyo urged to improve corporate governance
JAPAN - Japan's banks will never recover their health unless they undergo a drastic improvement in corporate governance similar to that imposed on South Korean financial institutions after the 1997 financial crisis, according to a Standard & Poor's…
Hayami says BOJ has more policy options
JAPAN - Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami said on Tuesday the BOJ had more policy options up its sleeve to fight deflation, suggesting more unconventional steps are being considered to dig the economy out of its rut.
CentralBankNet Monday Special Feature
SPECIAL FEATURE - In this weeks special feature CentralBankNet looks at the issue of Japan's Non-Performing Loan Problem and the shock decision by the Bank of Japan to start buying shares. On Friday the BOJ published both an outline to its stock purchase…
Japan 'has drafted' anti-deflation package
JAPAN - The Japanese government has drawn up the outline of an anti-deflation package and will finalise the draft towards the end of the month, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported on Sunday.
BoJ to buy $16bn of banks' shareholdings
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan on Friday said it would buy yen 2,000bn ($16.5bn) of banks' shareholdings to make them less vulnerable to stock market swings.
Takenaka calls on BoJ to help fight deflation
JAPAN - Heizo Takenaka, Japan's economy minister and the new head of the Financial Services Agency, on Wednesday called on the Bank of Japan to co-operate with the government on tackling deflation.
Anti-deflation drive sparks BOJ fear over autonomy
ARTICLE - The central bank gets the jitters now that finance chief Takenaka takes up its challenge on economy. The Bank of Japan is worried that the government's latest campaign to stamp out deflation and buoy the economy will compromise its autonomy.
Nikkei plunges on Takenaka's remarks
JAPAN - Stocks hit their lowest level since 1983 after Japan's finance minister said no bank is too big to fail. Investors, fearing a wave of corporate bankruptcies under the government's bad-loan solution, drove Tokyo share prices to another 19-year low…
BOJ's Hayami- Utmost being done on monetary policy
JAPAN - Governor of the Bank of Japan Masaru Hayami said on Monday that the central bank is doing its utmost to ease credit conditions.
Bank of Japan Discussion Paper
RESEARCH - 'Monetary and Fiscal Policy in the European Monetary Union' by Juergen von Hagen and Matthias Brueckner - The introductory phase of the European Monetary Union ended with the emission of euro currency in 2002. This paper presents a review of…
Takenaka asks BoJ to set inflation target
JAPAN - Financial Services Minister Heizo Takenaka has asked the Bank of Japan to set an inflation target in a bid to ease deflation pressure seen as a result of banks' bad loan write-offs.
Speech by Yutaka Yamaguchi, Bank of Japan, 30 Aug
SPEECH - In the speech titled 'Monetary Policy in a Changing Economic Environment' and published on 1 October by the Bank of Japan, Yamaguchi said that the Bank of Japan's experience showed that price stability, by making low interest rate possible, can…
Advocate of hard-landing may join Japan debt team
JAPAN - Japan's best-known advocate of a "hard-landing" solution to the banking crisis is likely to be named this week a member of the taskforce charged with drawing up proposals to tackle the financial system's mountain of bad debts.
Japan and US: Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble
ARTICLE - With the American economy still sputtering and the Federal Reserve divided over whether to cut interest rates again, foreboding comparisons between the United States and Japan are gaining a renewed currency.
Tankan poll shows economic recovery slowing
JAPAN - Japan's economic recovery slowed over the July-September period, the Tankan quarterly survey on business confidence released Tuesday by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has shown.
Cen bank of Korea, Japan, China to meet regularly
KOREA - The central bank governors of South Korea, China and Japan have agreed to hold their first regular meeting in Beijing next spring in order to enhance economic ties.
Bank of Japan Monthly Report, September 2002
REPORT - The Bank of Japan published its Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments, September 2002, on 20 September. In its report the Bank of Japan left its assessment of the Japanese economy unchanged for the second consecutive month…