BOJ Outpaces Fed in Easing as Yen Heads to 90: Chart of the Day

The Bank of Japan will outpace the U.S. Federal Reserve in printing money next year, putting the yen on track to weaken to about 90 per dollar, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows the dollar-yen rate and, in the lower panel, the monetary bases of the world’s largest and third-biggest economies since 2007. While the U.S. system had $2.64 trillion in November, about double Japan’s 124.4 trillion yen ($1.44 trillion), the pace of change differed in the past year as the BOJ stepped up its buying of government and corporate debt amid a recession. Japan’s central bank voted on Dec. 20 to expand its asset-purchase program by 10 trillion yen to 76 trillion yen after Shinzo Abe called for unlimited monetary stimulus before becoming prime minister this week.