TOKYO, June 27 (Xinhua) — The Bank of Japan (BOJ) held a document 53.34 p.c of excellent Japanese authorities bonds on the finish of March, after it ramped up shopping for to carry down the yield on the benchmark 10-year subject, the central financial institution mentioned Tuesday.
The BOJ’s bond holdings, excluding these with short-term maturities, got here to 576.06 trillion yen (4 trillion U.S. {dollars}) as of March 31, whereas whole authorities debt issued stood at 1,079.96 trillion yen, in keeping with the central financial institution’s report on fund flows for January-March.
The BOJ has held greater than half of the federal government’s debt for the third straight quarter, it mentioned.
The BOJ’s large holding of bonds got here because the central financial institution stepped up its purchases of presidency bonds in a bid to curb rises in rates of interest as bond yields confronted upward strain in tandem with these of its abroad counterparts amid a world development of financial tightening to tame inflation.
Under its yield curve management program, the BOJ units short-term rates of interest at minus 0.1 p.c whereas guiding 10-year Japanese authorities bond yields round zero p.c. A 0.5-percent cap was positioned on the benchmark yield in December final 12 months. (1 U.S. dollar equals 143.5 yen)