Japan’s central bank will probably double purchases of exchange-traded funds in a second round of monetary easing under Governor Haruhiko Kuroda anticipated in coming months, a Bloomberg News survey of economists shows.
The Bank of Japan, which tomorrow is forecast to leave unchanged a 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen ($674 billion) target for yearly expansion of the monetary base, will increase annual ETF buys to 2 trillion yen, according to a survey of 36 analysts. The bank could boost annual bond purchases by at least 10 trillion yen, with July most favored for a policy move.
While Kuroda pointed to the equivalent of trillions of dollars of financial assets the BOJ could buy before he took the helm in March 2013, the survey signals little change in tactics is likely. Evidence of budding inflation expectations among Japan’s companies may restrain more ambitious plans, such as open-ended ETF purchases, even as the economy slows because of this month’s sales-tax increase.
Bloomberg
