The Bank of Japan has announced plans to scale back its coronavirus emergency economic support programme, tapering its corporate debt purchases to pre-pandemic levels as it follows other big global central banks in phasing out crisis-era policies.
The BoJ made no changes to its ultra-loose monetary policy, however, as it monitors the impact of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
The monetary support, which was introduced in March 2020, included buying corporate bonds and commercial paper as well as offering cheap funding to financial institutions that extended loans to pandemic-hit small businesses.
The central bank announced on Friday that it would wrap up its corporate bond and commercial paper purchases, which increased the balance of its holdings by ¥20tn ($176bn), by the March 2022 deadline as scheduled. The central bank said it would extend the loan scheme for smaller companies for six months to September.
The decision came in line with other central banks, which have moved this week to tighten monetary policy. The Bank of England on Thursday raised its benchmark…
