The Bank of Japan Policy Board at its mid-November meeting rejected a proposal that the central bank purchase foreign bonds, but some members nevertheless entertained the idea as a way to further ease credit, according to minutes of the meeting released Tuesday.
Some board members also expressed the view that it is necessary to examine the issue of diversifying the measures used to provide the economy with liquidity -- including purchases of foreign bonds -- so the central bank would be prepared to respond to any further deterioration in the economy, the minutes show.
The proposal for foreign bond buying, put forward by Nobuyuki Nakahara for the second consecutive meeting, was voted down 8-1 as other members agreed there was no need to adopt such a measure at the moment.