Economics
BOJ on Path to Taper Bond Purchases to Lowest Since Start of QE
- Buying may fall to 26 trillion yen by end-2019 at current pace
- Slowing purchases may draw more attention to Japan flow data
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The Bank of Japan may be making slow progress on the road to its 2 percent inflation target, but it sure is gathering pace when it comes to tapering its bond purchases.
The quest to loosen its grip on the world’s second-largest debt market has seen the central bank slow down the year-on-year increase in its bond holdings by an average 3.2 percent per month in 2018, BOJ data compiled by Bloomberg show. At this pace, the stockpile would rise just 26 trillion yen ($230 billion) over 2019, the smallest increase since it began quantitative easing in April 2013.