For Sumio Ito's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has a history of delivering surprises, so investors have been left guessing about what the policy assessment announced last month will deliver, if anything.
To gain eligibility for the interest payments, regional banks must make decisions on merging or show they have improved their profitability.
China’s plans to issue a digital yuan, while still not fleshed out, have heightened global interest in digital currencies among central banks and policymakers.
The travel discounts started in July, and have helped drive consumer inflation below zero as hotel prices dropped by more than 30% from a year ago.
The central bank now owns 71% of exchange-traded funds, a fifth of commercial paper and 7% of corporate bonds, its assets equivalent to 137% of gross domestic product.
Housewife Matsuko Mitsui had been meaning to buy a new air conditioner for years, but it took the looming consumption tax hike in October to spur the 64-year-old to finally make the purchase. Like many people in Japan, she isn't planning to splash out again ...
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's role as the prime focus for efforts to revive the world's third-largest economy is coming to an end. An unprecedented level of concern about damaging side effects of Japan's multidecade experiment with ultralow interest rates has gripped policymakers, regulators ...
Further consolidation among Japan's regional banks is inevitable given the rapidly aging population and ultralow interest rates, according to an adviser to the Financial Services Agency. The Bank of Japan's radical stimulus program, which has pushed interest rates to near or below zero, is severely ...
The clear favorite to become the first female leader of Japan's biggest opposition party believes Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's signature Abenomics policy has stalled and a change of gear is needed to favor people over corporations. Renho, a former TV announcer born to a Taiwanese ...
