Historic BOJ Move Lifts Short-Term Costs for Japanese Firms

  • Deals in April show issuers paying more than before BOJ move
  • Investors seeking higher premiums: Asset Management One’s Kato

Japan’s central bank said on March 29 that it plans to buy corporate bonds ¥75 billion ($490 million) in May.

Photographer: Shoko Takayasu/Bloomberg
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Many Japanese companies are paying more to raise money from shorter-tenor notes as the Bank of Japan prepares to wind down corporate bond purchases as part of its historic move away from ultra-accommodative policy.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Panasonic Finance Co. on Friday sold three-year yen notes at a much higher premium than corporate bonds offered before the central bank scrapped the world’s last negative interest rate on March 19. Top-rated Toyota Finance Corp. last week priced a three-year note at a significantly wider spread than lower-rated Sony Group Corp.’s deal in March.