BOJ bond-buying faces challenge as Japan Post slows debt sales

Tokyo

THE day when the Bank of Japan (BOJ) cannot find enough bonds to buy is drawing closer.

State-owned Japan Post Bank Co will probably offload about 10 trillion yen (S$110.5 billion) of Japanese government bonds (JGB) in the year started April 1, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. That compares with 19.6 trillion yen in sales last fiscal year. Parent Japan Post Holdings Co cut JGB holdings 13 per cent to 154.9 trillion yen last fiscal year and may be nearing the end of an asset reshuffle, Merrill estimated.