Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui pledged to work with the government to rebuild a financial system that he said was in a "severe state" because of bad loans and plunging stock prices.
"We would like to work with the government, and as the central bank we will implement steps to stabilize the country's financial system," Fukui said in a speech to the bank's branch managers.
He said the bank would spell out details of a plan to buy corporate debt ``as soon as possible.''
The central bank this month said it might buy asset-backed securities to give companies an alternative source of financing to bank lending, which has fallen for six years as banks struggle to write off bad loans estimated at ¥52.4 trillion (US$438 billion).
Fukui, who was inaugurated on March 20, is looking for new ways to pull Japan out of a 12-year slump. His predecessor, Masaru Hayami, cut interest rates almost to zero in March 2001 and tripled purchases of bonds from banks to Y1.2 trillion a month.
Such steps haven't reversed a five-year drop in consumer prices that has sapped corporate profits and inflated the value of debt. Nor have they kept share prices from plunging. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 28 percent in the fiscal year to March 31, inflicting losses on banks such as Mizuho Financial Group Inc.
Politicians are pressing Fukui to do more. Last week, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's economic panel urged the bank to prop up share prices by financing a private agency that would buy stock. It also asked the bank to buy real-estate investment trusts and exchange-traded funds.
The state of the world's second-largest largest economy is "flat in general," Fukui said. The bank sees "strong uncertainty" about the overseas economy and the effects of the Iraq war.
Financial markets have been stable even after the March 31 fiscal year-end, when banks had to account for losses on investments, because the central bank has taken steps to provide liquidity, he said.
Heads of the central bank's 32 branches nationwide and offices in London, New York and Hong Kong are meeting in Tokyo to report on their regional economies.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
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