BOJ now holds 43.9% of all outstanding government debt

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

Bank of Japan (BOJ) now holds 43.9% of all outstanding Japanese government debt compared to just 8% in 2008, Jeroen Blokland, Portfolio Manager for the Robeco Multi-Asset funds, Robeco ONE and Robeco Pension Return Portfolio, tweeted on Sunday.

Since 2013, the central bank has been buying up massive amounts of Japanese government bonds in an effort to keep the long-term interest rates at 0% and propel the country's low annual inflation rate toward its 2% target.

BOJ's attempt to achieve 2% inflation has come up short – the consumer price index rate is currently running at 0.5%. However, its balance sheet size has increased sharply with bond holdings rising sharply from 8% to 43.9%.

The central bank, therefore, has limited room to expand stimulus and may have a tough time keeping the gains in the Japanese yen under check during the next round of major risk aversion.

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

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