TOKYO, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi asked the Bank of Japan to buy more government bonds when necessary to curb rises in long-term interest rates during a meeting with BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda in May, Jiji news agency reported on Tuesday.
At the meeting, Takaichi called on Ueda to take “appropriate steps to stabilise markets” and increase bond buying if needed, Jiji reported, citing several unnamed sources.
Ueda replied that the BOJ needs to consider the market reaction to such measures, but that the central bank will respond when circumstances require, Jiji said.
The government was not immediately available to comment.
After the meeting with Takaichi, Ueda told reporters only that he had agreed to communicate closely with the prime minister on monetary policy.
The BOJ began slowing its bond buying from July 2024 to wean the economy off massive stimulus, and breathe life back into a market made dormant by its huge presence.
In June, it decided to suspend the taper process from April next year and keep buying roughly 2 trillion yen ($12.68 billion) in Japanese government bonds (JGB) each month, a move some analysts saw as heeding the administration’s concern that the BOJ’s slowing bond buying may be driving up already rising yields.
Highlighting the BOJ’s sensitivity to such government concerns, the central bank released a research paper on Tuesday saying its tapering of bond purchases is probably having only a limited effect in pushing up long-term interest rates.
($1 = 157.7700 yen)
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Sam Holmes)
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