Japan Warns of Dire Finances as BOJ Struggles to Contain Yields

Japan Warns of Dire Finances as BOJ Struggles to Contain Yields
Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks at a news conference after Japan intervened in the currency market for the first time since 1998 to shore up the battered yen in Tokyo on Sept. 22, 2022. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

TOKYO—Japan’s finances are becoming increasingly precarious, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki warned on Monday, just as markets test whether the central bank can keep interest rates ultra-low, allowing the government to service its debt.

The government has been helped by near-zero bond yields, but bond investors have recently sought to break the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) 0.5 percent cap on the 10-year bond yield, as inflation runs at 41-year highs, double the central bank’s 2 percent target.