Japan to conduct appropriate debt management policies, finance minister says
TOKYO, June 10 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday that the government will conduct appropriate debt management policies while communicating closely with market participants.
"It's important for the government to make efforts to ensure a variety of investors buy and own government bonds, at a time when the Bank of Japan tapers its bond purchases," Kato said, speaking to reporters in a regular news conference.
Kato said measures to promote domestic ownership of Japanese government bonds (JGB) include introducing a new type of floating-rate note linked to short-term interest rates and allowing unlisted companies to buy bonds designed for individual investors.
The government will continue to work on appropriate policies "so that market confidence in Japanese government debt would not be lost," he said.
Reuters reported on Monday that the government is considering buying back some super-long bonds it issued at low interest rates, on top of an expected government plan to trim issuance of super-long bonds in the wake of sharp rises in yields.
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