Major banks cling to Japan debt, obstructing BOJ inflation target

Tokyo

A GROUP of Japanese banks that includes the nation's biggest three lenders is growing reluctant to sell government bonds to the Bank of Japan (BOJ) , creating what could be an obstacle between governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his inflation target, analysts said.

Gross transactions of sovereign debt by the nation's major lenders fell to 2.8 trillion yen (S$35 billion) in March, an amount that's 38 per cent of the level a year earlier and the smallest in data going back to April 2004, according to figures from the Japan Securities Dealers Association.