MNI POLICY: BOJ Cuts L/T JGB Buy Frequency To 4 Times in March

     TOKYO (MNI) - The Bank of Japan said Thursday that it will reduce the

frequency of its Japanese government bond purchases with a remaining life of 5

to 10 years to four times monthly from the current five times.

     Against that, the BOJ increased the upper end of the bucket bond buying

range to Y650 billion from Y600 billion.

     The BOJ's decision was expected by some bond players, as the BOJ has

already reduced the frequency of its purchases in the medium- and super

long-term bond buckets to four times from five.

     The BOJ's schedule sees it refrain from conducting JGB buying operations on

days when the Ministry of Finance holds auctions for JGBs or the BOJ board holds

policy meetings.

     --CALENDAR

     The planned JGB purchase operations in March:

     The zones (amounts to be purchased in ranges)

     --1 to 3 years (Y250-Y450 bln in Mar. vs. Y250-Y450 bln in Feb.)

     --3 to 5 years (Y300-Y550 bln in Mar. vs. Y300-Y550 bln in Feb.)

     --5 to 10 years (Y300-Y650 bln in Mar. vs. Y300-Y600 bln in Feb.)

     --10 to 25 years (Y150-Y250 bln in Mar. vs. Y150-250 bln in Feb.)

     --More than 25 years (Y10-Y100 bln in Mar. vs. Y10-Y100 bln in Feb.)

     The frequencies of operations in each zone in March plans vs February

actual.

     --1 to 3 years: 4 times (4 times)

     --3 to 5 years: 4 times (4 times)

     --5 to 10 years: 4 times (5 times)

     --10 to 25 years: 4 times (4 times)

     --More than 25 years: 4 times (4 times)

     The dates of operations

     Mar. 4: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, 10 to 25 years, more than 25 years.

     Mar. 6: 5 to 10 years.

     Mar. 8: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years.

     Mar. 13: 5 to 10 years, 10 to 25 years, more than 25 years.

     Mar. 18: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years.

     Mar. 20: 5 to 10 years.

     Mar. 25: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, 10 to 25 years, more than 25 years.

     Mar. 29: 5 to 10 years, 10 to 25 years, more than 25 years.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-2175-0040; email: hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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