Japan

The Bank of Japan ramped up bond buying on Tuesday as its yield cap came under renewed pressure from rising global interest rates, highlighting its difficulty in remaining a dovish outlier in a global wave of monetary tightening, Reuters reported. The central bank's resolve to keep yields low has helped drive the yen down to 24-year lows against the dollar, as investors have focused on the gap between Japan's ultra-low interest rates and expectations of aggressive hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Tokyo is concerned about sharp falls in the yen currency and stands ready to "respond appropriately" if needed, Japan's top government spokesperson said on Monday, issuing a fresh warning to markets, Reuters reported. The remark echoed Friday's joint statement by the government and central bank, but failed to avert a plunge in the yen to 135.22 against the dollar, the currency's lowest level since October 1998. "It's important that currency rates move in a stable way, reflecting fundamentals.

When Japan’s leader released his economic vision Tuesday, he left out an important date. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida deleted a pledge from earlier government statements calling for Japan’s budget to be balanced by 2025. And he declined to give a date by which Japan would do something to lower its government debt, while promising to significantly increase military spending, the Wall Street Journal reported. It is a bold stance, given that the debt tops ¥1.1 quadrillion or $8.3 trillion at current rates, more than twice the size of the economy.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday the central bank's top priority was to support the economy, stressing an unwavering commitment to maintaining "powerful" monetary stimulus, Reuters reported. Unlike its U.S. and European counterparts, the BOJ does not face a trade-off between the need to tame inflation and support the economy, as Japan's inflation remains modest and driven by temporary factors such as rising raw material costs, Kuroda said.

Heichinrou, an iconic Chinese restaurant in Japan founded 138 years ago, became the latest establishment to fall victim to the coronavirus pandemic, filing for bankruptcy protection on Thursday, Bloomberg News reported. The restaurant’s main branch, an institution of Yokohama’s famous Chinatown, began bankruptcy proceedings at the request of creditors with total debt likely exceeding 300 million yen ($2.3 million), according to research firm Teikoku Databank.

Japan's jobless rate fell to 2.5% in April, while the availability of jobs increased, government data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was lower than the 2.6% reported for March, which was also the median forecast for April in a Reuters poll of economists. The jobs-to-applicants ratio was 1.23 in April, labour ministry data showed, in line with a Reuters poll forecast and rising 0.01 point from the previous month's 1.22. Read more.

Having long trod a similar path in tackling low inflation, Japan and Europe now appear to be taking contrasting approaches to monetary policy and the risks of rising prices, which drew warnings at this week's Group of Seven gathering in Germany, Reuters reported. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda repeated his dovish mantra on Friday, saying the recent cost-push inflation will be short-lived and will not warrant withdrawing stimulus.

Last December, after two years of stop-and-go growth, Japan’s economic engine seemed like it might finally be revving up. Covid cases were practically nonexistent. Consumers were back on the town, shopping, eating out, traveling. The year 2021 ended on a high note, with the country’s economy expanding on an annual basis for the first time in three years. But the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, geopolitical turmoil and supply chain snarls have once again set back Japan’s fragile economic recovery.

Japan's wholesale prices in April jumped 10% from the same month a year earlier, data showed on Monday, rising at a record rate as the Ukraine crisis and a weak yen pushed up the cost of energy and raw materials, Reuters reported. The surge in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, marked the fastest year-on-year rise in a single month since comparable data became available in 1981. The gain followed a revised 9.7% increase in March, and was higher than a median market forecast for a 9.4% increase.

Japanese audio equipment maker Onkyo Home Entertainment Corp. has filed for bankruptcy, with some 3.1 billion yen (about $24 million) in total liabilities, the company announced on May 13, the Mainichi Japan reported. The firm, based in the Osaka Prefecture city of Higashiosaka, filed for the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings with the Osaka District Court and its petition was accepted, the company said. Besides its Onkyo brand, the firm also has the "Pioneer" brand under its umbrella. Due to a decline in earnings, Onkyo had been struggling with cash management.