JGB yields hit 1% first time in year

May 24, 2013

JGB yields hit 1% first time in year

Japanese government bonds fell Thursday, with 10-year rates touching 1 percent for the first time in a year, on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will curb stimulus and the Bank of Japan will tolerate an increase in yields. Japan’s five-year note rate matched the ...

2% inflation target out of reach, think tanks say

May 24, 2013

2% inflation target out of reach, think tanks say

Think tanks agree it will be difficult for the Bank of Japan to attain its 2 percent inflation target in about two years, with the nation’s economic growth seen slowing down markedly in fiscal 2014 after the planned consumption tax hike. The average estimate ...

BOJ maintains monetary easing policy, upgrades economic appraisal

May 23, 2013

BOJ maintains monetary easing policy, upgrades economic appraisal

The Bank of Japan pledged to adjust its unprecedented stimulus program as needed after a jump in bond yields that highlighted risks linked to policymakers’ campaign to revive the world’s third-largest economy. BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters in Tokyo that the central bank ...

May 20, 2013

Eurozone now eager to copy Japan, take 'easy way out'

by Fabien Zamora

Budding growth in the Japanese economy, just as a recession in Europe digs in, is renewing pressure on European policymakers to shift course from austerity to stimulus. Data released on Thursday said that Japan’s economy grew markedly in the first quarter, only weeks after ...

JGB yield spikes raise alarm bells

May 18, 2013

JGB yield spikes raise alarm bells

by Reiji Yoshida

Is it a sign of a full-fledged economic recovery or a looming catastrophe in the monetary making? Recent spikes in Japan’s long-term interest rate, represented by the 10-year government bond, have created a stir and roused a deep sense of alarm among investors and ...

May 9, 2013

Abe wants to determine impact of BOJ easing on people's livelihoods

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the administration’s key economic panel will hold a meeting to carefully examine whether the Bank of Japan’s drastic monetary easing has begun to improve people’s livelihoods. Abe made the remark Tuesday amid growing concern that the central bank’s easing ...

Kuroda stimulus policies backfire as mortgage costs rise

May 9, 2013

Kuroda stimulus policies backfire as mortgage costs rise

by Yumi Ikeda

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda’s stimulus policies are backfiring in the housing market, where mortgage rates are rising even as the central bank floods the financial system with cash. Fixed 35-year home-loan costs rose to 1.81 percent this month, the first increase since ...

ADB flags danger of Asia forming 'asset bubbles'

May 5, 2013

ADB flags danger of Asia forming 'asset bubbles'

Emerging Asia needs to be on guard against “asset bubbles” as central banks around the globe loosen monetary policy, Asia Development Bank Managing Director Rajat Nag warned. “The positive thing of quantitative easing out of Japan and other economies is that they will start ...