The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has reduced purchases of the Japanese government bonds (JGBs) maturing in five to ten years in order to put a floor under the sliding yields.
In today’s routine operation, the BOJ will be buying bonds worth JPY 400 billion, down from the previous purchase of JPY 450 billion.
The move to reduce bond purchases by JPY 50 billion comes after Japan’s 10-year yield fell a record low of -0.30% on Aug. 29. Essentially, the benchmark yield slipped well below the -0.2% mark perceived by markets as the central bank’s line in the sand.