Bank Of Japan Keeps Policy Unchanged; Sees Sharp Downturn In FY 2021
15 July 2020 - 12:12PM
RTTF2
The Bank of Japan maintained its massive monetary policy
stimulus on Wednesday as the economy is expected to contract more
sharply in the current financial year due to the challenges posed
by the novel coronavirus.
The Policy Board of the BoJ voted 8-1 to retain the interest
rate at -0.1 percent on current accounts that financial
institutions maintain at the central bank.
The bank will continue to purchase necessary amount of Japanese
government bonds without setting an upper limit so that 10-year JGB
yields will remain at around zero percent.
The bank will actively buy exchange-traded funds and Japan real
estate investment trusts so that their outstanding amounts will
increase at annual paces with the upper limit of about JPY 12
trillion and JPY 180 billion, respectively.
As for CP and corporate bonds, the bank will maintain their
outstanding amounts at JPY 2 trillion and JPY 3 trillion,
respectively.
The bank is unlikely to announce major new measures over the
coming months, Marcel Thieliant, an economist at Capital Economics,
said.
The economy is forecast to improve gradually from the second
half of the year with economic activity resuming, but the pace is
expected to be only moderate while the impact of the novel
coronavirus remains worldwide, BoJ said.
The bank observed uncertainty posed by the covid-19 is extremely
high. It is highly unclear how the pandemic will evolve and how
long it will take to subside, the banks said.
According to the quarterly outlook report, the economy will
contract 4.7 percent in this fiscal year ending March 2021. In
April, the bank had forecast a fall somewhere between 3 percent and
5 percent.
Thereafter, the economy is projected to expand 3.3 percent in
next fiscal year and 1.5 percent in the fiscal 2022. Earlier, the
bank had forecast 2.8 percent to 3.9 percent growth in 2021 and 0.8
to 1.6 percent in FY 2022.
Consumer prices are expected to fall 0.5 percent in the fiscal
2020. In April, prices were expected to drop between 0.3 and 0.7
percent.
The bank projected consumer prices to rise 0.3 percent in the
next fiscal and 0.7 percent in the fiscal 2022.
Sterling vs Yen (FX:GBPJPY)
Forex Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Sterling vs Yen (FX:GBPJPY)
Forex Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024