Japan’s Monetary Base Down 1.1 Pct in May

June 4, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's monetary base at the end of May went down 1.1 pct from a month earlier, dropping for the first time in three months, the Bank of Japan said Monday.

The monetary base, or the combined balance of currency in circulation and commercial financial institutions' current account deposits at the BOJ, stood at 492,626.9 billion yen.

Despite the central bank's massive fund supply under its monetary easing policy, the monetary base dropped due to the issuance of Japanese government bonds, as well as tax and pension premium payments.

The current account deposit balance declined 1.1 pct to 384,191.8 billion yen. The balance of bank notes fell 1.3 pct to 103,657.5 billion yen. Jiji Press