JGB Market Functioning at Worst Level in Feb.: BOJ Survey

Tokyo, March 1 (Jiji Press)--The functioning of the Japanese government bond market in February was at its worst level since data became available in 2015, a Bank of Japan survey showed on Wednesday.

The deterioration came even after the BOJ revised its yield curve control policy last December, allowing 10-year JGB yields to move between plus and minus 0.5 pct, wider than the previous range of plus and minus 0.25 pct.

In the BOJ survey, the diffusion index for JGB market functioning, which measures the smoothness of bond transactions, fell to minus 64 from minus 51 in the previous survey in November.

The index represents the percentage of market participants feeling that JGB market functioning is at a high level minus that of those feeling the opposite.

Since the start of 2023, the benchmark 10-year JGB yield has repeatedly topped the BOJ's upper limit of 0.5 pct, amid growing speculation that the central bank could further revise its easing policy.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]