The Democratic Party of Japan is considering introducing special taxes and issuing "disaster bonds" underwritten by the Bank of Japan to secure funds to help Tohoku rebuild from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, party sources said Friday.
Members of the Cabinet and BOJ policymakers expressed concerns that some politicians are trying to force the central bank to purchase long-term debt from the Finance Ministry — an action that is basically prohibited by law. Doing so might cause Japan's fiscal health to deteriorate further and damage public trust in the currency.
"It is impossible and I will never have (the BOJ) do such a thing," economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano said earlier in the day, trying to silence calls by some lawmakers for the BOJ to print money more flexibly under the government initiative.