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Assets held by the Bank of Japan reached a record in 2018 for the seventh year in a row. The central bank has bought huge amounts of badets as part of its monetary policy.
BoJ officials said total badets at the end of March amounted to 557 trillion yen, or about $ 5.1 trillion. This is an increase of 5.4% over the previous year.
The central bank held 470 trillion yen, or $ 4.3 trillion, of Japanese government bonds, up 4.8%. The pace of bond purchases has slowed recently.
The amount of holdings in Exchange Traded Fund, or ETFs, increased by 30.9%. These funds consist of equities and other badets and are traded on an exchange.
The rise clearly shows that the central bank supports stock prices in Japan.
BoJ's net profit was 587 billion yen or $ 5.4 billion, down 23.3 percent.
Officials say this is partly because the bank has transferred a certain amount to cover the losses that can be incurred when it normalizes its policy by tightening itself.
The BOJ plans to continue its mbadive easing policy until next spring at least. But economists do not know when and how the bank will be able to normalize its policy, while its 2% inflation target is still out of reach.
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