The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has decided to keep its interest rates below zero, and thus is the only major economy to do so while other key central banks raise interest rates in a bid to curb inflation.
“The bank will offer to purchase 10-year government bonds at 0.25 percent every business day through fixed-rate purchase operations, unless it is highly likely that no bids will be submitted,” the BoJ said.
The Japanese central bank’s decision came only a few hours after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that the government plans to disburse ¥29 trillion ($200 billion) in fresh spending.
The BoJ’s move to keep interest rates low is in stark contrast to other major central banks around the world that are desperately raising rates. Just a day earlier, the European Central Bank announced another big rate hike of 75 basis points.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest rate from almost zero at the beginning of the year to a range of 3.0–3.25 percent, which is its highest level since 2008.
The difference between Japan and the United States, as well as the eurozone, is that while Tokyo’s inflation rate is low, the other two regions are going through a period of high inflationary pressure.
Japan’s Inflation
While the inflation rate in the eurozone has jumped from 4.1 to 9.9 percent between October 2021 and September 2022, and the inflation rate in the United States rose from 6.2 to 8.2 percent during this period, Japan’s inflation rate has largely remained on the lower side, rising from 0.1 percent to 3.4 percent (as of September).Though the BoJ forecasts inflation for the 2022 fiscal to be at 2.9 percent, the bank sees it easing down to 1.6 percent in the following 12 months, which is well below its targeted inflation rate of 2 percent.
In a statement on Oct. 28, the BoJ said that it will continue with “quantitative and qualitative monetary easing with yield curve control,” with the aim of achieving a 2 percent inflation rate. It will also continue expanding the monetary base until inflation stays above the target in a stable manner.
“For the time being, while closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19, the bank will support financing, mainly of firms, and maintain stability in financial markets, and will not hesitate to take additional easing measures if necessary; it also expects short- and long-term policy interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels,” the bank said.