Business Jul 21, 2019
China moves up date for lifting some restrictions on foreign investment to 2020
China lifted some restrictions on foreign investment in the financial sector Saturday as the world's second-largest economy fights slowing growth at home and a damaging trade war with the United States. China will remove shareholding limits on foreign ownership of securities, insurance and fund management ...
Business / Economy | ANALYSIS Jun 6, 2019
Japan holds its own debate on Modern Monetary Theory
by Toru Fujioka and Enda Curran
The hottest economic doctrine around says governments should stop worrying and learn to love their public debt. Japan has been more relaxed than most — but a looming tax hike suggests it may be about to blink. Modern Monetary Theory, or MMT, posits that countries ...
Business / Financial Markets Apr 2, 2019
Japan government bonds have a cute sales mascot, but there's only one buyer that matters
by Chris Anstey, Yuko Takeo and Toru Fujioka
In the land that gave us Hello Kitty, it's no surprise the government employs an endearing mascot to sell its bonds. His name is Kokusai-sensei. A pint-size rendition of him welcomes visitors to the investor relations office at the Finance Ministry. Pudgy and professorial, ...
Business / Financial Markets Mar 8, 2019
Growth fears and Chinese equity plunge haunt global stocks
by Karin Strohecker
Deepening fears for the health of the global economy pushed world stocks to three-week lows on Friday after China exports contracted by a fifth, sending shares in some of the country's key indexes more than 4 percent lower. The February data out of Beijing came ...
Business / Corporate Mar 6, 2019
Mizuho's surprise $6.1 billion charge exemplifies risks for Japan banks seeking returns abroad
by Yuki Hagiwara and Gareth Allan
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. announced another round of losses Wednesday on its foreign-bond holdings as part of a surprise writedown that will severely curtail full-year profit, as Japanese banks' quest to secure yield by investing overseas continues to create turbulence. Mizuho slashed its net income ...
Business / Economy Dec 19, 2018
Japan fiscal 2019 tax revenue expected to hit record ¥62.5 trillion
Tax revenue is expected to hit a record high of ¥62.5 trillion in fiscal 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday. The amount of new Japanese government bonds to be issued in the fiscal year from April, excluding refinancing bonds, is likely to decline from ...
Business / Economy Nov 14, 2018
Bank of Japan's hoard of assets now bigger than the economy
by Yuko Takeo
The Bank of Japan's massive asset purchase program has taken it into uncharted territory, with its ballooning holdings now larger than the country's annual economic output. Its holding reached a staggering ¥553.6 trillion ($4.9 trillion), figures released Tuesday show, compared with nominal gross domestic product ...
Business / Economy Jul 31, 2018
Bank of Japan tweaks ultraloose monetary policy in bid for flexibility
by Cory Baird
The BOJ announced a rare set of monetary policy changes Tuesday, outlining a more flexible blueprint designed to let long-term interest rates “move upward and downward”.
Business Jul 26, 2018
Japan's commercial lenders lobby BOJ to stop buying corporate bonds at negative rates
by Takashi Nakamichi
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 ...
Business Jun 27, 2018
Household assets in Japan hit record-high ¥1.83 quadrillion at end of 2017 fiscal year
Financial assets held by households stood at a record ¥1.83 quadrillion ($17 trillion) at the end of March, climbing 2.5 percent from a year earlier thanks to a rise in share prices, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday. The figure marked a record-high on a ...
Business Apr 19, 2018
Japan's Mizuho loses Saudi bond role in ongoing Gulf rift with Qatar
Japan's Mizuho Securities has lost a bond mandate for Saudi Arabia, on top of another for Qatar, banking sources said, highlighting how international banks have been caught up in Qatar's ongoing dispute with its neighbours. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, last ...