BOJ Now Holds Record 53% of Japan’s Government Bonds

The Bank of Japan is holding a total of ¥576 trillion in outstanding Japanese government bonds, excluding treasury bills, as of the end of March 2023, according to the BOJ’s Flow of Funds Accounts report. The share of JGBs held by the BOJ has reached a record high of 53.34%. The holding ratio was 11.55% in March 2013, when former BOJ Governor Kuroda Haruhiko took office, but rose steadily thereafter as the BOJ continued to purchase JGBs on a massive scale, based on its unprecedented monetary easing policy. Some have noted that the BOJ provides a form of financing supporting the government’s fiscal outlays, producing cracks in the country’s fiscal discipline. The BOJ has continued its policy of large-scale monetary easing since Ueda Kazuo became the new BOJ governor in April 2023.

Meanwhile, household assets at the end of March rose 1.1% year on year to a record high of ¥2,043 trillion. Among these assets, cash and deposits rose 1.7% to ¥1,107 trillion, while stocks and other securities rose 2.7% to ¥226 trillion, bolstered by rising domestic stock prices.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)