TOKYO: Japan's Ministry of Finance will increase issuance of 40-year government bonds in the new fiscal year from April, citing strong investor demand for long-maturity debt, it said on Monday.

The ministry plans to keep sales of other maturities unchanged in fiscal 2021/22 from current levels, it said.

Still, the total bond issuance to financial markets will hit a record high of 221.4 trillion yen next fiscal year, compared with 212.3 trillion yen in the current year after its borrowing jumped during the COVID-19 pandemic to finance economic stimulus.

The announcement was in line with a Reuters report last week.

Below are details of the MOF's JGB issuance plan for 2021/22. The numbers in brackets are figures for the current fiscal year after its extra budgets to finance coronavirus relief spending.