Japan
Japan's central bank ignores IMF plea on deflation
JAPAN - The Bank of Japan ignored a call from the International Monetary Fund to act against deflation plaguing the nation's economy on Friday, keeping its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged.
Japan central bank keeps monetary policy unchanged
JAPAN - Japan's central bank left its monetary policy unchanged Friday amid hopes that an economic recovery is taking hold after a long slump.
Speech by Masaru Hayami, Bank of Japan, 24 July
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'The Challenges Facing Japan's Economy' Hayami said that the dollar's current weakness is not surprising given its history of volatility, though he hoped it will not fall further. He added that the dollar's recent weakness on…
Speech by Masaru Hayami, Bank of Japan, 19 July
SPEECH - In the speech, published 5 August, at the presentation of the Bank's Semi-annual Report on Currency and Monetary Control Hayami said Japan's economy is about to undergo its third cyclical recovery since 1990. He also talked of the Bank's hopes…
BOJ to up security with new bank note issue
JAPAN - Novelist Ichiyo Higuchi (1872-1896), whose portrait is to be featured on a redesigned 5,000 yen bill, will be the first woman to appear prominently on Japanese paper currency since the end of World War II.
BOJ Gov Hayami to visit Osaka, Nagoya 5-6 Sept
JAPAN - Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Masaru Hayami will make an annual visit to the cities of Osaka and Nagoya on 5-6 September, the central bank said on Monday.
Introduction of New Series Bank of Japan Notes
NOTE ISSUE - The Ministry of Finance has decided and announced the manufacture of new series of the 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 1,000 yen Bank of Japan notes in order to improve their security against counterfeiting.
Bank of Japan Discussion Paper Series
RESEARCH - Japan's Negative Risk Premium in Interest Rates: The Liquidity Trap and Fall in Bank Lending, Rishi Goyal and Ronald McKinnon, July 2002.
Top central bankers agree to hold regular talks
SOUTH KOREA - The central bank governors of South Korea, China and Japan have agreed to have regular talks at all future international gatherings, said Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Park Seung on Monday.
Structural problems must be confronted says Rubin
SINGAPORE - Two of the world's major economies, Japan and the European Union (EU), need vital structural reforms if they are to achieve sustainable growth, former US treasury secretary Robert Rubin said on Thursday.
Japan-style financial crisis looms for Taiwan
ARTICLE - A researcher with the Asian Development Bank Institute said Thursday that indications are Taiwan may be due for a crisis like the one that hit Japan in 1997.
Bank of Japan Semi-annual report 2001
REPORT - Semiannual Report on Currency and Monetary Control Second Half of Fiscal Year 2001, Bank of Japan, 23 July. The report says that although Japan's economy deteriorated in the second half of 2001 this has slowed somewhat and overseas economies…
Minutes of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting
MINUTES - Minutes of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting on 11 and 12 June 2002, released 19 July. A few members remarked that the Bank should make clear its intention to continue the current monetary easing stance because it was important to…
BOJ head sees few reasons for further dollar fall
JAPAN - Bank of Japan Governor Masaru Hayami said on Friday that the dollar, whose weakness against the yen has alarmed Japanese authorities, did not have much reason to fall further.
Bank of Japan Monthly Report, July 2002
REPORT - On 18 July the Bank of Japan published its Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments, July 2002. In the report the BOJ says that Japan's economy, despite continued weakness in domestic demand, has almost stabilized as a whole…
Bank of Japan Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - At the Monetary Policy Meeting held today, the Bank of Japan decided, by unanimous vote, to maintain the following guideline for money market operations for the intermeeting period, 16 July.
BOJ keeps monetary policy unchanged
JAPAN - Japan's central bank left its monetary policy unchanged Tuesday to keep plenty of cash flowing in the financial system and help the nation's fledgling recovery.
Postal body gets BOJ online clearance
JAPAN - The public corporation that will replace the state-run postal services next April in Japan will be able to settle accounts with private banks in real time, officials said over the weekend. By gaining access to the Bank of Japan's transaction…
Change at Japanese regulator welcomed by reformers
JAPAN - The Japanese government on Thursday named Shokichi Takagi as head of the Financial Services Agency - a surprise move that raised hopes of a more radical approach by the supervisory body to the bad debt problem plaguing Japanese banks.
Speech by Yutaka Yamaguchi, Bank of Japan, 3 July
SPEECH - In a speech titled 'Central Banking in Uncharted Territory' Yamaguchi said that "the US dollar reached its peak in January and has been depreciating significantly since then. Such a forex rate movement reflects these changes in global capital…
Confidence boosted as Japan shows recovery signs
JAPAN - Japan's export-led economic recovery fuelled a record improvement in sentiment among large manufacturers in a survey of business confidence. However the survey also highlighted the risk to Japan's economic health from the yen's recent rise…
Minutes of Japan's Monetary Policy Meeting
MINUTES - Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes from the meeting of 20 and 21 May, released 1 July.
Speech by Masaru Hayami, Bank of Japan, 1 July
SPEECH - In his opening speech to the Tenth International Conference held by the Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Hayami said he was convinced that with experts from all over the world exchanging their experiences and views, the conference…
Japan's experience should warn central banks
LETTER - Letter published in the London Financial Times on 27 June from William Smyth.