Japan will stay the course on monetary easing

Subject Monetary policy in Japan. Significance The monetary policy board of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) at its last meeting abandoned its prediction of when the nation will reach its 2% inflation target, the first time it has omitted a target date since Governor Haruhiko Kuroda introduced his policy of radical monetary easing five years ago. Impacts Japan’s interest rates will remain at historically low levels for at least two more years. The yen will remain relatively weak as other countries’ central banks end their quantitative easing programmes. A weak currency plus widespread global economic growth will create strong demand for Japanese exports.

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1006-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Lima ◽  
Claudio Foffano Vasconcelos ◽  
Jose Simão ◽  
Helder Ferreira de Mendonça

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze if the unconventional monetary policy, known as quantitative easing (QE) practiced by central banks in the USA, the UK, and Japan was effective to increase the market share after subprime crisis. Design/methodology/approach In order to analyze the effect of the QE on the stock markets of the USA, the UK, and Japan, the authors use an ARDL model to find the long-run relationship among the variables. Findings The findings denote that the QE implemented by the central banks in the USA, Japan, and the UK had a positive impact on their stock markets. Originality/value The results of the paper give some new insights about the conduction of monetary policy when the interest rates are close to zero.


Subject Opposite forces are shaping investor sentiment towards EM assets. Significance Investor sentiment towards emerging market (EM) assets is being shaped by the conflicting forces of a strong dollar and the launch of a sovereign quantitative easing (QE) programme by the ECB. While the latter is likely to encourage investment into higher-yielding assets, such as EM debt, the former will keep the currencies of developing economies under strain, particularly those most sensitive to a rise in US interest rates due to heavier reliance on capital inflows to finance large current account deficits, such as Turkey and South Africa. Impacts EM bonds will benefit from ECB-related inflows, while the strength of the dollar will keep local currencies under strain. Higher-yielding EMs will benefit the most from the ECB's bond-buying scheme since they provide the greatest scope for 'carry trades'. The collapse in oil prices is forcing EM central banks to turn increasingly dovish, putting further strain on local currencies.


Significance Expectations that the Fed will refrain from hiking its benchmark rates from its target range of 0.25-0.5% and that the Japanese central bank will provide further stimulus are suppressing volatility in financial markets and fuelling demand for risk assets. However, evidence that "overburdened" monetary policy is losing its efficacy triggered a sell-off in bonds and equities on September 9, increasing the scope for sharper price falls as investors worry that central banks have run out of ammunition. Impacts Services expanded in August at their slowest pace since 2010, making it less likely that the Fed will raise interest rates this month. EM bond and equity mutual funds have enjoyed a surge in inflows since the Brexit vote as yield-hungry investors pour money into risk assets Oil, a key determinant of investor sentiment, will stay below 50 dollars/barrel unless major producers agree measures to stabilise prices.


Significance Hungary thereby regains investment-grade status, albeit at the lowest level, from being downgraded to 'junk' because of doubts about the government's policies and the high public debt burden. Hungary's improving creditworthiness, underpinned by its current account surplus and deleveraging in the banking sector, contrasts with the increasing strain on Poland's credit rating. Political risk has become a major driver of investor sentiment towards emerging markets. Impacts Emerging market assets have become more vulnerable as investors reprice US monetary policy. Futures markets are now assigning a 51% probability to another rise in US interest rates at or before the Federal Reserve's July meeting. Central Europe's government bond markets are being supported by the persistently dovish monetary policy stance of its central banks. This contrasts with Latin America, where inflationary pressures are forcing many central banks to raise rates. Brazil, Turkey, Poland and the Philippines are among several countries where political uncertainty is a key determinant of asset prices.


Subject The impact of US monetary policy tightening. Significance Following the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) historic decision to raise rates for the first time since 2006, the start of the Fed's monetary tightening cycle is accentuating the hawkish stance of Latin America's main central banks. This comes amid a dramatic sell-off in commodity markets, persistent concerns about China's economy and a severe deterioration in economic conditions across the region. Impacts EM asset prices have remained relatively resilient to the rise in US interest rates, in stark contrast to the 'taper tantrum' in 2013. Hitherto-resilient regional local currency government bond markets will face foreign capital outflows due to falling commodity prices. The Brazilian real is 2015's worst-performing major EM currency, but due largely to political and economic difficulties at home.


Significance Fears of Europe's financial fragility are rising after the ECB ended its quantitative easing (QE) programme in December. The programme -- which lasted almost four years -- bought over 2.5 trillion euros (2.9 trillion dollars) in government, corporate and covered bonds, as well as asset-backed securities. Impacts GDP growth may pick up in the fourth quarter after idiosyncratic factors hit July-September, but GDP will struggle to build momentum. When the next cyclical downturn hits, fiscal policy will have to help monetary policy in supporting the economy. An ECB rate hike in 2019 would allow Central-East European central banks to hike too, curbing inflationary pressures.


Subject ECB monetary review. Significance The new ECB president wants to extend the bank’s remit to include addressing climate change, but disagreements are mounting over the traditional mission, monetary policy. Christine Lagarde headed her first monetary policy meeting on December 12 and, as expected, stuck to Mario Draghi’s policy path. However, the divisions between Governing Council members who support the ultra-loose stance and those who oppose quantitative easing (QE) and lower interest rates will deepen. Impacts New Executive Board members include Isabel Schnabel and a replacement for Benoit Coeure; they will influence the way the board leans. Lagarde has little banking expertise but will use her political skills to encourage governments to expand fiscal policy. Lagarde wants the ECB to tackle climate change but this is technically challenging and will be opposed in the Governing Council. The ECB's chief economist and the directors general for economics and monetary policy will have more sway under Lagarde.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuriy Nikolayev ◽  

The article is devoted to the study of conditions of application and influence of non-traditional monetary policy of central banks of developed countries on national economies and economies of emerging market countries. Based on critical analysis and systematization of basic research on the analysis of non-traditional monetary policy and its impact on the economies of different countries, it is substantiated that non-traditional monetary policy is a set of measures aimed at restoring the transmission mechanism and eliminating financial market imbalances. The main tools of non-traditional monetary policy are - previous management, quantitative easing; credit easing; negative interest rates, qualitative mitigation. Relevant areas of research on the financial performance of economies were also justified, as monetary policy directly affects interest rates, money supply, exchange rates, availability of credit, and through the financial sector to other sectors of the economy. During the aggravation of the economic and debt crisis, which had a negative impact on the Eurozone countries, investors' interest in CEE countries increased due to higher interest rates and the opportunity to make more profits. The study of the impact of the ECB's monetary policy on the financial indicators of Central and Eastern Europe revealed that the ECB's unconventional policy, including quantitative easing aimed at lowering long-term interest rates, affected the yield on government bonds of almost all EU countries, not only member states. euro area, which generally declined after 2014. Non-traditional monetary policy and an increase in the ECB's balance sheet also affect investment flows to CEE countries, but are mainly debt instruments in both direct and portfolio investment. The opposite situation is observed in the Eurozone countries with a high debt burden, especially in Greece and Italy. Despite the fact that the ECB's policy has led the euro area countries with a high level of debt to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio, there is a tendency to increase the share of public debt payments to GDP. In this situation, the ECB simply cannot significantly change the purpose of its monetary policy, because any, even small, increase in the discount rate will lead to a new debt crisis in the Eurozone with its epicenter in Italy and Greece. The study of the impact of non-traditional policies of the Bank of Japan, the Fed and the ECB on the economy of Ukraine confirms the hypothesis that the actions of the ECB have the greatest impact on the financial performance of Ukraine. The analysis shows the impact of non-traditional monetary policy on the exchange rate of the Ukrainian hryvnia to the euro, US dollar and Japanese yen, but it was not significant. This is due to the fact that monetary policy in Ukraine only in 2015 actually moved from a fixed exchange rate to a floating exchange rate and began to apply inflation targeting. Announcements of non-traditional monetary policy have also affected government bond yields and stock indices, but the Ukrainian stock market is underdeveloped and has little effect. The main influence was the first programs of non-traditional monetary policy of the ECB, the USA and the Bank of Japan. In times when non-traditional measures were just being introduced and difficult to regulate and predict. Thus, it was proved that, on the one hand, unconventional monetary policy can stimulate economic growth, and on the other hand, create significant risks for further monetary policy opportunities to counter future crises.


Subject The economic outlook for Japan. Significance Japan’s GDP rose 1.0% for the calendar year 2016 and the fourth quarter (annualised). Although the latest quarter decelerated from the pace of the earlier part of the year, the economy has now experienced four straight quarters of growth, the longest stretch since 2013. Impacts Higher wages arising from tighter labour markets will eventually push up prices, the four-year goal of the Bank of Japan. Low interest rates, rising investment and historically low levels of business failure support bank lending and demand for loans. The apparent end of a raw materials glut is bringing foreign demand back to Japan’s exporters; this should continue.


Subject Financial markets turmoil and negative interest rates. Significance Global stocks are down 11.7% year-to-date in dollar terms and the yield on benchmark ten-year US Treasury bonds has hit a low of 1.66%. The turmoil in financial markets since the beginning of this year is partly attributable to investors' waning confidence in the effectiveness of central bank policy, and, in particular, that negative interest rate policies are exacerbating weaknesses in the banking sector. This is reducing the scope for a rally in equity markets, which have been overly reliant on the flow of cheap money from central banks. Impacts The strong yen will pose a severe challenge to the Japanese government's reflationary programme. While stock markets will remain sensitive to monetary policy, investors will perceive central banks as sources of volatility. The European financials sell-off stems from concerns about their earnings and business models, as opposed to a full-blown liquidity crisis.


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