Japan sinking deeper into de facto helicopter money

Tokyo

THE Bank of Japan (BOJ) says there is no possibility of helicopter money, and by a strict definition they are correct. But as the government plans to issue more 40-year bonds, it is looking more and more like some monetisation of debt is underway.

The BOJ says that as long as it buys Japanese government bonds (JGB) from the market, it is not directly underwriting bonds to fund government spending.