RIETI Report March 2019

BOJ's Purchases of ETFs and Implications for the Future

At the end of the 20th century, the Bank of Japan embarked on the longest period of unconventional monetary policy in the history of the modern world, which still continues to this day. In this month's column, Okimoto examines the particularities and effects of the Bank of Japan's unconventional monetary policy and its evolution from the zero-interest rate policy (ZIRP) and quantitative easing (QE) through quantitative and qualitative monetary easing (QQE), QQE with negative interest rates and QQE with yield curve control with a specific focus on utilizing exchange traded funds (ETFs) to achieve its targets, including a 2% inflation target. Okimoto utilizes the latest research results to evaluate Japan's performance in BOJ's Purchases of ETFs and Implications for the Future.

This month's featured article

BOJ's Purchases of ETFs and Implications for the Future

OKIMOTO TatsuyoshiVisiting Fellow, RIETI

The Bank of Japan (BOJ)'s unconventional monetary policy has a long history. It started with the introduction of zero-interest rate policy (ZIRP) in February 1999, if we count it as part of the unconventional monetary policy. For all those years since then, Japan has remained in the realm of unconventional monetary policy, except for two periods—from August 2000 through March 2001 and from July 2006 through December 2008—during which the ZIRP was temporarily lifted. Meanwhile, the processes of the BOJ's unconventional monetary policy have evolved. Specifically, the BOJ embarked on quantitative easing (QE) in March 2001, followed by the launch of comprehensive monetary easing (CME) in October 2010, quantitative and qualitative monetary easing (QQE) in April 2013, QQE with a negative interest rate in January 2016, and QQE with yield curve control in September 2016, all to enhance monetary easing effects.

To read the full text
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/columns/a01_0516.html

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