In this file photo dated March 16, 2020, a pedestrian walks in front of the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. (PHOTO / AFP)
TOKYO – The Bank of Japan's unrealized losses on its holdings of record-high government bonds amounted to 157.1 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in fiscal 2022 (April 2022-March 2023) for the first such loss in 17 years, the central bank said.
Bond holdings swelled 10.6 percent to 581.72 trillion yen in book value, a record for any fiscal year-end, though its market value came to 581.56 trillion yen, translating into an unrealized loss of 157.1 billion yen, the BOJ reported on Monday.
It was the first time since March 2006 that the BOJ suffered a full-year loss in its government-bond holdings, it added.
The BOJ has been keeping short- and long-term interest rates depressed through massive purchases of government bonds. In recent months, the central bank ramped up buying to counter market pressure in order to defend its limit on 10-year bond yields despite a global trend of monetary tightening.
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BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has said that he believes it is necessary to retain monetary easing to ensure stable inflation accompanied by robust wage increases.