GPIF can't stem linker market's loss

Tokyo

THE world's biggest pension fund has snapped up half of the market for Japan's inflation-protected bonds. It was still not enough to stop the debt slumping towards its worst month this year.

Linkers have declined 0.4 per cent so far in July, headed for the biggest loss since December, as investor expectations for consumer price gains wane. The 137.5 trillion yen (S$1.5 trillion) Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) held 867.3 billion yen of the bonds at the end of the fiscal year to March, compared with total issuance of 1.8 trillion yen over the period.