'Japanification' — The scourge threatening to go global in 2020
First it was Japan. Then Europe. Now investors are scanning the world for the next outbreak of stagnant inflation and tumbling yields. The malaise of "Japanification" burst into the mainstream this year, leaving in its wake a record amount of negative-yielding debt. Quantitative easing and ...
BOJ policymaker calls on banks to downsize for profitability
A Bank of Japan Policy Board member urged banks Thursday to downsize in number and asset holdings to become more profitable, pointing to structural factors, rather than the BOJ's easing policy, as being behind the deterioration in their profitability. In a speech to business leaders ...
BOJ members voiced concerns about ability to hit inflation target, minutes of October meeting show
Some on the nine-member board insisted on the need to communicate to markets that the BOJ would maintain loose monetary policy.
Food shortage fears spark panic buying in protest-hit Lebanon
Fearing food shortages in protest-hit Lebanon, Sanaa crammed bags of fava beans into a packed trolley, one of dozens of shoppers who rushed to buy basic supplies in a Beirut department store. "I don't remember ever stocking up on so much food," said the 40-year-old ...
China's consumer prices grew at their fastest rate in almost eight years in October driven by a spike in pork prices caused by an outbreak of African swine fever, according to official figures released Saturday. The consumer price index (CPI) — a key gauge of ...
Bank of Japan keeps policy steady but sends clearer signal of future rate cut
The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday as expected but offered a stronger signal it may cut interest rates in the future, underscoring its concern that overseas risks could derail the country's fragile economic recovery. The decision came hours after the U.S. ...
BOJ starts policy meeting as weak inflation fuels easing expectations
The Bank of Japan began a two-day policy meeting Wednesday, with market participants expecting the central bank to cut its inflation forecasts, a move that would raise pressure for it to take additional steps to stimulate the economy. The BOJ will study the possibility of ...
Japan's inflation slows to 29-month low in September on falling oil prices
Japan's core consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier, with the pace of growth slowing to a 29-month low due to lower crude oil prices, government data showed Friday. The nationwide core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, ...
Maduro hikes Venezuela's minimum wage again, this time by 275% in face of 50,100% inflation
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered a 275 percent increase in the monthly minimum wage on Monday, the third hike this year, as hyperinflation drains the value of workers' salaries. The minimum wage rose to 150,000 bolivars ($8) from 40,000, lawmaker Francisco Torrealba, a former labor ...
Bank of Japan's Yukitoshi Funo warns of growing global risks but says BOJ ready to respond
Bank of Japan board member Yukitoshi Funo on Thursday warned against intensifying economic pressure from slowing global growth and reiterated the central bank's readiness to respond to the broadening hazards. Funo — who has consistently voted with the majority of the nine-member board — repeated ...
Companies on average expect domestic consumer prices to rise 0.9 percent in a year's time, a quarterly Bank of Japan survey for September showed Wednesday. The expected rate was unchanged from the previous poll in June, the BOJ said. The average projected inflation rate was 1.0 ...
Consumer inflation cools in August to two year low in blow to BOJ
Japan's core consumer inflation slowed to a new two-year low in August due to lower oil costs and feeble economic growth, data showed on Friday, adding to the Bank of Japan's growing challenges in achieving its elusive 2 percent price target. The data will keep ...
