The outstanding balance of financial assets held by households rose 5.8 percent in fiscal 2005 from the previous year to a record 1.506 quadrillion yen, reflecting rises in income and share prices on the back of the economic upturn, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
The central bank said in its quarterly Flow of Funds Accounts report that household assets reached the highest level for any fiscal year since it started the survey in 1979.
On a quarterly basis, however, household assets went even higher, to a record high 1.51 quadrillion yen at the end of the October-December quarter.
At the end of fiscal 2005 on March 31, household assets held in cash and deposits totaled 771 trillion yen, down 0.6 percent from a year earlier.
The ratio of cash and deposits to total household assets fell 3.3 percentage points from a year ago to 51.2 percent.
Individual assets held in the form of government bonds and state-guaranteed fiscal investment and loan program bonds jumped 26 percent from a year earlier to 26.9 trillion yen.
Assets held in investment trusts soared 44.8 percent to 55 trillion yen, the report said.