MNI BRIEF: BOJ Cuts Short-term JGB Buying In January

The Bank of Japan will reduce the scale of purchases of short-term JGBs in January, officials said Monday. The range of JGB buying with a remaining life of 1 to 3 years was trimmed to between JPY300 billion and JPY600 billion in January, down fromJPY350 billion to JPY650 billion in December.

The BOJ kept the frequency and scale of other JGB buying operations in January unchanged from last month.

Purchases will be conducted in a 'flexible manner', taking account of market conditions, with the aim of achieving the target long-term interest rate specified in the guideline for market operations. Depending on conditions, purchase size per auction could be set at either a fixed or unlimited amount, the BOJ statement said.

The BOJ's schedule sees it refraining from conducting JGB buying operations on days when the Ministry of Finance holds auctions for JGBs or the BOJ board holds policy meetings.