Japan's central bank yesterday said it would inject more cash into the economy, saying declines in the nation's stock market and a weak dollar are clouding the outlook for the world's No. 2 economy.
It raised reserves it makes available to lenders to as much as ?30 trillion from a maximum of Japanese Yen 27 trillion, the bank said in a statement. The bank kept monthly purchases of government bonds, its main policy tool since cutting rates to zero in March 2001, unchanged at Japanese Yen 1.2 trillion (US$10.3 billion).
"Economic activity in Japan remains flat, but uncertainties about future prospects have recently been increasing," Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said at a news conference.
"Unstable stock and foreign exchange markets overshadow future prospects," he said.
The central bank is trying to reassure investors concerned that the government's decision to bail out Resona Holdings Inc, the nation's fifth-largest bank, would prompt requests for aid from other lenders, economists said.
"It's more of an announcement that they are reacting to Resona" rather than a shift in monetary policy, said Soichi Okuda, senior economist at Aozora Bank Ltd.
Since his inauguration on March 20, Fukui has announced policy steps at every policy board meeting. Two board members dissented from today's decision, he said.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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