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BOJ¥

Japan's economic output ran above full capacity in April-June for the first time in nearly four years, a government estimate showed, suggesting that conditions for ending its policy of ultralow interest rates could be falling into place.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2023
Japan's economic output runs above capacity in signal for BOJ
The data suggests that conditions for Japan to end its policy of ultralow interest rates could be falling into place.
Bank of Japan board member Toyoaki Nakamura says it is uncertain whether smaller companies can earn enough profits to keep hiking wages next year and beyond.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 31, 2023
BOJ policymaker warns against premature monetary tightening
Tightening monetary policy before rising prices are accompanied by higher wages would hurt domestic demand and corporate profits, Toyoaki Nakamura said.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. A board member with the central bank Naoki Tamura has hinted that officials might be able to confirm some time early next year they’ve hit the goal needed to usher in policy change.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2023
Leading BOJ hawk hints at chance of policy shift in early 2024
"The achievement is finally and clearly within sight after a decade of large-scale monetary easing aimed at attaining it,” board member Naoki Tamura said.
The Bank of Japan's inflation outlook doesn’t reflect reality, according to one of the country’s leading experts on prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2023
BOJ’s outlook doesn’t reflect reality, key price expert says
While the bank sharply raised its price outlook last month, it was still kept too low, said University of Tokyo economics professor Tsutomu Watanabe.
Christine Lagarde (left), president of the European Central Bank, Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan (center) and Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Friday
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 27, 2023
BOJ chief says strategy backed by below-target inflation
Gov. Kazuo Ueda said price growth remains slower than the central bank’s goal, explaining why officials are continuing with their current strategy.
The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2023
Financial expert warns against delay in BOJ policy shift
Izuru Kato predicted that the BOJ will likely raise its short-term policy rate from below zero in "January or April next year."
The Tokyo core consumer price index rose 2.8% in August from a year earlier, slowing for the second straight month but remaining well above the central bank's 2% target.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 25, 2023
Inflation in Tokyo slowed in August but stayed above BOJ target
The Tokyo core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food but includes fuel costs, rose 2.8% in August from a year earlier.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks to reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023
BOJ's Ueda meets Kishida but says yen volatility wasn't discussed
The talks took place after the dollar's recent ascent above ¥145, a level that last September triggered Japan's first yen-buying operation since 1998.
Kenya Koshimizu, senior executive at Mizuho Financial Group, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2023
Mizuho deferring JGB purchases as BOJ mulls policy exit: official
Banks face a looming inflection point as Japan's economy approaches policy normalization after years of little growth, weak spending and massive easing.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2023
BOJ adjustments show strain as record bond buying continues
Doubling the effective cap on benchmark yields in December and again last month has yet to significantly reduce the central bank's purchases.
The BOJ’s monetary easing has kept the benchmark yield on 10-year JGBs below 1% for over a decade, and most traders have never experienced a major surge in rates that would put them at risk of large writedowns.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2023
Traders who survived the 1980s become must-have hires in Japan
With the benchmark yield on 10-year JGBs below 1% for over a decade, most traders have never experienced a surge in rates that would put them at risk.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Aug 16, 2023
As yen enters intervention range, Japan's policymakers hold fire
With Japan now reaping some benefits from a weaker currency, intervention may not come as quickly as it did last year.
The yen has depreciated about 3% since the Bank of Japan decided to tolerate higher benchmark bond yields on July 28.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 15, 2023
Yen weakens toward level that prompted September intervention
The currency has depreciated about 3% since the Bank of Japan decided to tolerate higher benchmark bond yields on July 28.
The Bank of Japan's attempts to dismantle ultraloose monetary policies have led to unexpected market reactions and left some investors struggling to understand the central bank's intentions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 10, 2023
The BOJ gets a new doctrine. It’s just keeping it to itself.
The BOJ is likely sincere when it says the 2% price goal is still some way off, even if one member seemingly believes it’s on the horizon.
Nominal cash earnings for workers in June rose 2.3% from the previous year, decelerating from a revised 2.9% clip in the previous month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2023
Wage growth slowed in June, boosting case for BOJ to hold firm
The unexpected slowdown suggests the labor market may be losing some steam, and clouds prospects for the Bank of Japan’s sustainable inflation goal.
Hiroyuki Nagai, president and chief executive officer of Rakuten Bank (left), attends the company's listing ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2023
Rakuten Bank sees edge over rivals once BOJ ends negative rates
Uncertainty remains over when the Bank of Japan will scrap the policy, which has squeezed banks’ lending margins since its introduction seven years ago.
Eisuke Sakakibara, former top finance official, says Japanese authorities are unlikely to intervene in foreign exchange markets to prop up the yen.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2023
Japan's 'Mr. Yen' Sakakibara expects no intervention
The yen has fallen around 14% since the Fed began rapidly raising rates to combat soaring inflation in March 2022.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a news conference, following the central bank's policy meeting, on July 28.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2023
BOJ debated chance of sustained inflation at July meeting
The central bank's upbeat view on the inflation outlook suggests they are now more convinced that conditions for phasing out stimulus could fall in place.
A stock board at an intersection in Shanghai in October
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 6, 2023
China is losing out as global funds chase returns in Japan stocks
Foreign buying of Japanese equities has exceeded that of Chinese peers for the first time since 2017, according to a Goldman Sachs Group report.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Some economists see the central bank’s loosening of restraints on 10-year bond yields as a message to the government that it now will have to do financial management responsibly, because the BOJ won’t control yields as firmly as it used to.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2023
Japan’s fiscal plight draws scrutiny after BOJ policy tweak
Tokyo seeking to expand spending on defense and child care, even as the national debt has grown to almost 260% of gross domestic product.

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A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks