The Japanese Bond Markets

Despite the rise in public debt, Japanese Government Bond (JGB) yields have remained low and stable, supported by steady inflows from the household and corporate sectors, high domestic ownership of JGBs, and safe-haven flows from heightened sovereign risks in Europe. Over time, however, the market's capacity to absorb new debt will likely shrink as population ages and risk appetite recovers. In the short term, a decline in fund supply from the corporate sector, where financial surpluses are abnormally high, and spillovers from global financial distress could push up JGB yields. Fiscal reforms to reduce public debt more quickly and lengthen the maturity of government bonds will help limit these risks.

Quantitative easing could improve market liquidity through many channels such as relaxing bank funding constraints, increasing risk appetite, and facilitating trades. However, it can also reduce market liquidity when the increase in the central bank’s holdings of certain securities leads to a scarcity of those securities and hence higher search costs in the market. Using security-level data from the Japanese government bond (JGB) market, this paper finds evidence of the scarcity (flow) effects of the Bank of Japan (BOJ)’s JGB purchases on market liquidity. Moreover, we also find evidence that such scarcity effects could dominate other effects when the share of the BOJ’s holdings exceeds certain thresholds, suggesting that the flow effects may also depend on the stock.

Structured in 4 parts: Macroeconomic Environmental Development, Credit Risk Measures and Management, Interest Rate Analysis and Market Integration sections; this book looks at the Japanese Fixed Income Market. It focuses on macroeconomic environmental developments, credit risk measures and management, interest rate analysis and market integration.

ASEAN+3 Bond Market Guide is a comprehensive explanation of the region’s bond markets. It provides various information such as the history, legal and regulatory framework, specific characteristics of the market, trading and transaction including settlement systems, and other relevant information. Bond Market Guide 2016 for Japan is an outcome of the strong support and kind contributions of ASEAN+3 Bond Market Forum members and experts, particularly from Japan. The report should be recognized as a collective good to support bond market development among ASEAN+3 members.

Monograph comprising contributions by various authors on government borrowings, debt management and bond markets described in various countries. Covered subjects include: "Debt management in the U.S.A." by B. Craven; "The Japanese bond market" by M. Okuda and S. James; "The bond market in Australia" by K. Davis and M. Lewis; and "The bond market and the changing financial structure of Italy" by G. Mauro.