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BOJ

An electronic board displays various companies' share prices at a business district in Tokyo in October.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2023
Japan’s labor demand holds steady in positive sign for wages
The job-to-applicants ratio eased a tad to 1.28, meaning there were 128 jobs offered for every 100 applicants, the labor ministry reported.
Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.5% in November from a year earlier, marking the slowest pace of increase in over a year in a sign of easing cost-push pressures in the world's third-largest economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 22, 2023
Japan’s cooling inflation also offers encouraging signs for BOJ
Consumer prices excluding fresh food items rose 2.5% from a year earlier as falls in energy costs deepened and gains in processed food prices eased.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after a policy meeting at BOJ headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 19, 2023
BOJ holds off from policy normalization moves amid growing pressure
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s comment during a parliamentary session on Dec. 7 increased expectations that the bank might send some signals of a policy change.
Market players see the yen rallying next year as the Bank of Japan exits the world’s last negative interest rate regime and its global peers cut borrowing costs.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 18, 2023
2023's big currency flop is top pick for year ahead, again
The BOJ's expected unwinding of its ultraeasy monetary policy and the prospects of lower borrowing costs elsewhere set the stage for the yen to rebound.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, who took office in April, has been considered a skeptic of negative interest rates.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 17, 2023
One small step for BOJ. One giant leap for the yen.
Japan can hold off on undoing negative interest rates
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda told lawmakers in parliament that his job was about to get even more "challenging” from the end of the year, adding to speculation of looming action by the central bank.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2023
BOJ set to stay outlier as 2024 hike seen in contrast to Fed
The Bank of Japan has become used to being a policy outlier over its decades-long quest to vanquish deflation. It’s likely to be no different in 2024.
The yen climbed by more than 1% against the dollar to the ¥140-range in Thursday trading.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 14, 2023
Yen gains over 1% as Fed pivots to rate cuts ahead of BOJ meeting
The Japanese currency surged past the four-month high of ¥141.71 reached last week amid dollar weakness due to dovish moves by the Fed.
The reading of the key index measuring confidence among major Japanese manufacturers, such as those in the auto and electronics sectors, rose for the third straight quarter, according to the Bank of Japan's tankan survey.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 13, 2023
Firms more confident ahead of BOJ policy meeting, tankan shows
Evidence of robust corporate sentiment boosts the odds of large wage hikes, paving the way for the normalization of monetary policy.
Japan’s producer price index rose 0.3% in November from a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2023
Japan’s input inflation eases further to slowest pace since 2021
The persistent slowdown in the index this year is in line with the BOJ’s view that price pressures are cooling.
The Bank of Japan is likely to keep its monetary stimulus settings unchanged at a two-day policy meeting ending Dec. 19, despite recent market speculation that the negative rate may be scrapped as soon as the December meeting.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 11, 2023
BOJ sees little need to end negative rate in December: sources
Bank officials are yet to see enough evidence of wage growth that would support sustainable inflation.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 8, 2023
Yen extends rally to second day as traders bet on early BOJ hike
The rally in the yen spilled over into a second day as traders wagered that the Bank of Japan will scrap the world’s last negative interest-rate regime much sooner than previously thought.
Japan’s economic recovery from the pandemic is losing momentum as overseas economies slow and sticky inflation weighs on domestic consumption.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 8, 2023
Japan’s deepest economic contraction since pandemic clouds path for BOJ
Gross domestic product contracted at an annualized 2.9% in the three months through September from the previous quarter as households reined in spending.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Half of the 52 economists surveyed by Bloomberg said the central bank will scrap its negative rate in April, up from 29% in the October survey.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2023
Most BOJ watchers predict end of negative rate regime by April
"The most beautiful scenario is the end of the negative rate in April”
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks to reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 7, 2023
BOJ’s Ueda meets Kishida and discusses monetary policy stance
The meeting is likely to make BOJ watchers nervous given that the central bank made a surprise policy tweak last December after similar talks.
Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino's comments are the clearest sign so far from the BOJ’s leadership that authorities are considering what the impact would be if they ended negative rates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 6, 2023
BOJ’s deputy chief hints that end of negative rate may be closer
Ryozo Himino has set out a hypothesis for what might happen if rates do indeed go positive.
Big Japanese banks are now training a generation of professional front-line staff who have little experience with rising interest rates.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2023
Staff at Japan's banks scramble to adjust to rising interest rates
Many younger employees have no expertise in dealing with the vagaries of a traditional inflationary environment.
There is a sense of caution in the credit market that the Bank of Japan will finally tighten its ultraeasy policy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 4, 2023
Turmoil from BOJ policy bets shakes up Japan credit market
Companies rush to raise money to take advantage of low rates while they still can but investor demand for corporate bonds is weakening.
Capital spending on goods excluding software rose 0.3% in the three months through September compared with the previous quarter, possibly serving as an encouraging sign for the Bank of Japan.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2023
Japan’s capital spending nudges higher in sign of resilience
Some analysts still warn that GDP could contract again in the current quarter
The Bank of Japan board member Toyoaki Nakamura says more time is needed before the bank phases out its massive stimulus.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 30, 2023
BOJ policymaker says more time needed before easing can be curbed
While a continued economic recovery and tight labor market hold promise for wage growth, inflation continues to suppress down real wages.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. The central bank incurred record valuation losses on its government bond holdings in the first half of the current fiscal year due to rising long-term interest rates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 29, 2023
BOJ’s paper loss on bond holdings balloons to record $71 billion
The loss isn’t likely to deter Ueda from paring back stimulus if the bank’s inflation goal is achieved. Still, it’s an indication of the challenges ahead.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.