The Policy Council of Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to maintain its reference interest rate for its operations in “around 0.5%”, while announcing the sale of funds quoted in the stock market (ETF) and Japanese real estate investment funds (J-RERIT).
According to the statement published Friday, the Issuer Institute has chosen not to move the types with seven votes in favor and two against. The governors Hajime Takata and Naoki Tamura advocated a rise of 25 basic points.
However, the motion to get rid of the funds was unanimously supported by the governing body of the Issuer Institute. It indicated that ETFS will be sold annually for 330,000 million yen (2,228 million dollars) and J-Reits for 5,000 million yen (33.82 million euros), all at market prices.
The Bank of Japan indicated that the transactions will be made in an orderly manner and that it will be released from each ETF and J-Reit for an approximate proportional amount to the participation of each asset in its portfolio. It will try to space sales when possible.
The entity led by Kazuo Ueda said that the Japanese economy has recovered “moderately” in the period analyzed despite still some areas of weakness.
Private consumption was supported by the improvement of employment and income, although families weakened, while exports and industrial production remained “more or less flat.”
Inflation in Japan is ranging lately between 2.5% and 3% driven, mainly by food prices, Specifically of rice. Then, inflation expectations rebounded “moderately” and the underlying variable is expected to increase gradually.
