BoJ threat to global bonds fizzles as Japan life insurers stay put

The move will be part of an overhaul the central bank is planning to make to its ultra-loose monetary policy more sustainable, as inflation remains distant from its 2 percent target despite five years of heavy money printing.. (File pic shows Japanese flag flying at the BOJ building in Tokyo - Reuters filepic)

TOKYO: For all the frenzy over the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) first policy tweak in almost two years, little seems to have changed for the nation’s life insurers.

That’s because the rise in long-end government bond yields seen after the central bank’s July 31 decision has proved to be fleeting, giving no incentive to the likes of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co, Nippon Life Insurance Co and Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Co to bring home some of the funds locked overseas.