BOJ's April-Sept. Surplus Hits Record High on Weaker Yen

Tokyo, Nov. 28 (Jiji Press)--The Bank of Japan said Monday that its surplus for April-September hit a record high, thanks to the yen's sharp depreciation, which boosted foreign exchange-related gains on its holdings of foreign currency-denominated assets.

The surplus, equivalent to net profit at companies, grew from 1,052.9 billion yen a year before to 1,592.4 billion yen, also reflecting higher profits on the central bank's holdings of exchange-traded funds.

Foreign exchange gains shot up from 28 billion yen to 1,506.3 billion yen.

Meanwhile, the BOJ logged a latent loss of 874.9 billion yen on its holdings of Japanese government bonds, against a profit of 4,373.4 billion yen at the end of March, due to a fall in JGB prices.

Such a latent loss was booked for the first time since the BOJ, under Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, launched its massive monetary easing policy in 2013.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]