Japan’s central bank said yesterday it would inject ¥10 trillion (US$114 billion) in liquidity into financial markets to boost recovery from the country’s worst post-war recession.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) said it “decided to further enhance easy monetary conditions by introducing a new funds-supplying operation,” adding it would also hold interest rates at super-low 0.1 percent to fight deflation.
“The bank recognises that it is a critical challenge for Japan’s economy to overcome deflation and return to a sustainable growth path with price stability,” the BoJ said in a statement. “To this end, the bank will continue to do its utmost as central bank.”
The funds would be lent at 0.1 percent to financial institutions against collateral such as government securities or corporate bonds, the bank said.
Japan has emerged this year from its worst post-war recession sparked by the global downturn, but the recovery has been threatened by deflation and a surging yen which makes its exports less competitive.
The government has urged the bank to take steps to help revive the economy.
The BoJ statement said that “while Japan’s economy is picking up, there is not yet sufficient momentum to support self-sustaining recovery in business fixed investment and private consumption.”
“As for the outlook, the pace of economic improvements is likely to remain moderate until around the middle of fiscal 2010,” it said.
It also said “there is a risk that recent international financial developments and foreign exchange market instability might pose adverse effects on economic activity.”
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.