Bank of Japan prodded to act as COVID-19 spreads, but options limited
Many smaller companies in the tourism, retail and other services sectors have encountered bankruptcy risks as the epidemic disrupts supply chains.
Follow the Fed? Why central banks won't be rushed on COVID-19 response
Will the world's big central banks leave U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hanging? They're certainly going to try. No major central bank has yet matched the Fed's emergency rate cut in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and there is mounting evidence that its counterparts ...
BOJ board member urges inflation policy review and stronger steps to avert virus-linked recession
A member of its BOJ’s Policy Board has called for stronger action by the central bank as the widening fallout from the coronavirus outbreak risks tipping the economy into yet another recession.
BOJ policymaker Takako Masai cautiously optimistic on global outlook despite coronavirus
Bank of Japan board member Takako Masai has said the global economy is on track for a rebound around mid-year as manufacturing activity picks up, signaling that risks such as the coronavirus outbreak do not warrant an immediate expansion of stimulus. Masai, who has consistently ...
Reflationist Seiji Adachi tapped to replace Yutaka Harada on Bank of Japan board
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has nominated economist Seiji Adachi, a known reflationist, to the Bank of Japan's Policy Board amid growing attention over Abe's stance on monetary easing. Adachi, head of economic research at Marusan Securities, was tapped to replace Yutaka Harada, who likewise has ...
Deepening negative rates would do more harm than good, says Bank of Japan ex-deputy
The Bank of Japan has nearly exhausted its policy ammunition for boosting the economy, as deepening negative interest rates — seen as the most likely step if it were to expand stimulus — will do more harm than good, former BOJ Deputy Gov. Toshiro ...
Daiwa to expand REIT business as low rates persist
Daiwa Securities Group Inc. is expanding its real estate investment trust business as low interest rates continue to drive investors into domestic property funds. Japan's second-biggest brokerage is preparing to start a new private-placement REIT and considering having existing trusts issue new shares to raise ...
Bank of Japan debated monetary and fiscal policy mix as risks from ultralow rates grow
A few Bank of Japan board members said the central bank must work carefully with the government in dealing with the next economic downturn, minutes of the BOJ's October rate review showed Tuesday. The nine-member board also debated the demerits of prolonged monetary easing, with ...
Sweden's central bank ended five years of negative interest rates on Thursday when it raised benchmark borrowing costs by a quarter point to zero, defying an economic slowdown and global uncertainty. The increase from minus 0.25 percent makes the Riksbank the first of the central ...
'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 ...
Kuroda talks up shift to fiscal firepower as BOJ reaches its limits
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda's role as the prime focus for efforts to revive the world's third-largest economy is coming to an end. An unprecedented level of concern about damaging side effects of Japan's multidecade experiment with ultralow interest rates has gripped policymakers, regulators ...
