Commercial lenders are privately complaining to the central bank about its purchases of corporate bonds at negative interest rates and are asking it to stop the practice, according to people familiar with the matter.
The trigger for the grievances is that the Bank of Japan has continued to buy company notes at yields below zero at monthly operations since February, the people said. Banks are concerned that the downward pressure this puts on corporate borrowing costs in the credit market may force them to reduce the interest rates they charge on loans, further hurting their profitability, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn't public.
The banks' pleas present a dilemma: While the BOJ's program to hold ¥3.2 trillion ($29 billion) of company notes makes up only a small part of its super-easy monetary framework, retreating could spark speculation among investors that the central bank is starting to move away from five years of radical easing, and possibly destabilize financial markets.