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Yield curve control a double-edged sword for BOJ as low rates strain banks
The Bank of Japan’s push to keep borrowing costs low to cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus is coming at the expense of the country’s lenders, which are already buckling under the strain of decades of ultra-low interest rates. Rising credit costs are hurting financial institutions of all sizes. But the hit has been particularly hard for the smaller regional banks, which make up about half the lending extended in Japan and are already reeling from a shrinking economy and margins that have sunk to a meager 0.2%. Their plight highlights the BOJ’s policy dilemma – the more it flattens the yield curve, ... (full story)