The Finance Ministry asked the Bank of Japan to consider expanding its corporate bond purchase program to channel more funds into the economy, minutes from last month's BOJ Policy Board meeting show.
"The government would like the bank to support the economy from the financial side by providing funds more actively," said the Feb. 18-19 meeting minutes, released Tuesday. "The government would like the bank to consider expanding the scope" of its corporate debt purchases.
The BOJ hammered out details of the corporate bond purchase plan at the gathering. Having lowered the key interest rate to 0.1 percent in December, the central bank has since been focusing on lowering borrowing costs for firms by buying assets from banks.