Japan banks' first-half profits hit by BOJ's negative rate policy

Tokyo

JAPAN'S top banks, already wrestling with shrinking loan profitability, posted falls in first-half profit as they struggled in the ultra-low interest rate environment exacerbated by the Bank of Japan's aggressive negative interest rate policy.

Japanese lenders' overseas expansion in recent years alleviated some of the damage from the central bank's negative interest rate policy, but the growth was still not strong enough to reverse the overall trend of squeezed loan margins.