Japan
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…
Minutes of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting
MINUTES - Minutes of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting on 8 and 9 August 2002, released 24 September. On the current state of Japan's economy, members concurred that despite persistent weakness in domestic demand and increasing uncertainty…
JGBs up as BoJ buying prompts short-covering
JAPAN - Japanese government bonds rebounded on Tuesday amid bargain-hunting following last week's tumble and as sentiment improved following a successful bond-buying operation by the central bank.
Japanese yields climb as bond auction fails
JAPAN - Japanese bonds headed for their biggest losing week in 3 years as a sale of 10-year government benchmark securities failed for the first time to attract sufficient bidders for the debt on offer.
Bank of Japan Public Statement
STATEMENT - New Initiative Toward Financial System Stability, 18 September.
Bank of Japan Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - On today's decision at the Monetary Policy Meeting, 18 September.
BoJ plans radical share buying idea to aid banks
JAPAN - In an unprecedented move, the Bank of Japan on Wednesday said it planned to buy shares from banks directly in an effort to prop up the faltering stock market.
Bank of Japan warned, fight deflation
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan (BoJ) should cooperate with a push by the government to halt deflation, chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda said today as central bank board members convened for a two-day policy meeting.
BOJ considers easing credit further
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan is considering easing credit to give the economy a push before companies close their books for the half year ending this month, BOJ sources have said.
Speech by H Kohler, Managing Director, IMF, 10 Sep
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'Japan and the IMF - 50 Years of Economic Progress and International Leadership' Kohler said there are welcome signs that Japan may at last be emerging from recession. But the consensus among forecasters is that the recovery…
Exports provide a boost to Japanese economy
JAPAN - The Japanese government on Wednesday confirmed that the country emerged from a year of economic recession in the April-June period by making a slight upward revision to second-quarter gross domestic product figures.
Japan coalition set to unveil economic package
JAPAN - Japan's ruling coalition parties, fuming over a lack of action by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration to prop up the ailing economy, are due to unveil their own policy package later on Monday.