BOJ Should Buy Bonds to Ease Yen Gain, Merrill’s Kichikawa Says
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The Bank of Japan needs to do more to curb the yen’s advance by increasing its purchases of government bonds with longer maturities, according to Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co.
“Currency intervention isn’t the leading player in halting the yen’s gain -- monetary policy is the only way to go,” Masayuki Kichikawa, chief economist at Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, said in an interview yesterday. He said the central bank should buy between 20 trillion yen ($245 billion) and 25 trillion yen in 10-year and 20-year government bonds, which would lower long-term borrowing costs and help stoke inflationary expectations.