Japan Eyes Tax Benefits for Retail JGBs

Tokyo, Aug. 25 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Finance Ministry and the Financial Services Agency plan to include tax incentives for retail Japanese government bonds in their fiscal 2027 tax reform proposals, informed sources said Tuesday.

The ministry and the agency aim to attract more individual investors amid a decline in the Bank of Japan's JGB purchases and to help maintain stable JGB issuance.

Concrete discussions are expected to take place toward the tax reform package to be compiled by the government and the ruling parties at the end of this year.

Individual investors account for only about 2 pct of total JGB holders.

"We must improve the attractiveness of retail JGBs," Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told a press conference Tuesday. "We want a wide range of investors to hold government bonds."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]