Japan’s central bank expanded its quantitative easing program in October, swelling Japan’s monetary base by around 80 trillion yen (US$682.9 billion) per annum. The BOJ was expected to cut its consumer price index forecasts to 1.5 per cent when it wraps up its two-day meeting Wednesday, according to local media reports.
Japan, QE
The latest figures from November show that the targeted core consumer price index inflation, which strips out volatile items like food, is just 0.7 per cent, having plunged since last April. It’s been dragged down by oil prices which have fallen by about 50 per cent since their peak in the summer. The drop in CPI led to the BOJ pledging to inject more cash to the tune of more than $700 billion yen a year to meet its inflation target and end 15 years of deflation, or price falls.
Japan’s government announced emergency economic stimulus at the end of December in the amount of 3.5 trillion yen, according to Japan Lumber Reports Friday.
Included in the measures is stimulative for housing, specifically in energy savings and lowered mortgage rates.