The Bank of Japan has become the single biggest holder of domestic government bonds for the first time, data showed yesterday, underscoring the scale of its monetary easing program.
The central bank has been aggressively buying Japanese government bonds since unveiling a stimulus scheme in April last year as part of Tokyo’s wider bid to kickstart the world’s No. 3 economy.
Data supplied by the central bank showed it had edged out the insurance sector to hold ¥201 trillion (US$1.97 trillion) in Japanese government bonds, or 20.1 percent of the total, at the end of March.
Insurers collectively held 19.3 percent of Japan’s outstanding debt. Pension funds and individuals were among the other holders of the country’s low-yielding government debt.
The vast majority of the government’s debt is held domestically, which is why Japan has not faced the same kind of pressure from foreign creditors as Greece and other nations did at the height of the eurozone debt crisis two years ago.
However, the IMF has led calls for Japan to tame its public debt — one of the world’s heaviest burdens at more than twice the size of the economy.
Tokyo is grappling with the spiraling healthcare and social security costs in a rapidly ageing nation.
In a bid to boost Japan’s US$1.26 trillion public pension fund — the world’s biggest — Tokyo is eyeing a shift away from a bond-heavy portfolio into stocks and other riskier assets in search of higher returns.
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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