The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy on hold on Tuesday, but noted weakening factory output and business sentiment in what markets saw as an assurance that it was aware of risks to growth that could require more easing. BoJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, apparently seeking to soothe jittery bond markets, said he would carefully examine how recent rises in Japanese yields could affect the economy, for example by causing losses on commercial banks' huge debt holdings.
But he stressed that Japanese bond yields were not rising as much as US and European long-term rates and were merely taking cue from US Treasuries. "In Japan, long-term interest rates have not risen as rapidly as in developed countries in the West," Shirakawa told a news conference. Government bonds showed little reaction to Shirakawa's comments or the BoJ's widely anticipated decision to keep its rates at a range of zero to 0.1 percent, like other major central banks maintaining abundant supply of funds to markets.
With rising share prices and the yen's retreat from a 15-year high hit last month, analysts saw little reason for the BoJ to act again after easing policy just two months ago. At its October meeting the central bank promised to keep interest rates effectively at zero until the end of deflation was in sight and set up a 5 trillion yen ($60 billion) fund to buy assets ranging from government bonds to corporate debt.
BoJ policymakers have also said that increasing the size of the fund would be a clear option if the anticipated economic slowdown proved deeper than expected. Shirakawa stressed that the latest easing steps had been effective in pushing down longer-term money market rates, and stuck to his view that Japan's economy will resume a moderate recovery early next year after a brief lull.
The BoJ maintained its general view that the world's third largest economy was showing signs of moderate recovery, but toned down its language on output, saying it has declined slightly rather than was "moving sideways". The bank also warned that business sentiment has been "somewhat weak", signalling that it saw its latest tankan survey as offering negative signals for the economy.
The 10-year Japanese government bond yield hit a seven-month high of 1.295 percent earlier this month, tracking sharp gains in US bond yields after President Barack Obama's decision to extend tax cuts boosted both expectations for US economic growth and worries over a swelling US deficit.
The benchmark yield was at 1.165 percent on Tuesday, off that peak, but analysts say Tokyo's plan to issue a record amount of bonds to the market next fiscal year will keep yields under pressure. Japan's economy is expected to contract slightly in the final quarter of this year on slowing overseas growth and slumping factory output, after the September expiry of government incentives for purchases of low-emission cars.