BOJ Posts Higher Profit for 2nd Year

May 30, 2018

Tokyo- The Bank of Japan said Tuesday that its net profit grew to 764.7 billion yen in the year ended in March from 506.6 billion yen in the previous year, marking the second consecutive year of increase.

The profit rise reflected increases in interest receipts from Japanese government bonds, gains from the sale of stock holdings and dividends from exchange-traded funds, the central bank said.

The BOJ will pay 726.5 billion yen to state coffers after deducting some funds such as legal reserves from the net profit.

At the end of March, the BOJ's JGB holdings increased to 448 trillion yen under its monetary-easing policy. Its total assets reached 528 trillion yen, hitting a record high for the sixth straight year.

The BOJ's capital-to-asset ratio came to 8.09 pct, exceeding the 8 pct threshold indicating financial soundness.

The rate of return on the bank's JGB holdings marked a record low of 0.279 pct on the back of low interest rates. But interest revenues slightly increased to 1,221.1 billion yen as its total JGB holdings increased.

Investment profits grew to 548.4 billion yen on higher stock sale gains and ETF dividends.

The BOJ incurred losses in its foreign currency-denominated assets due to the yen's rise.

The bank booked 445.1 billion yen in bond loss reserves to prepare for possible interest rate rises in the future. Jiji Press