MNI POLICY: BOJ Leaves JGB Buying Frequencies Unchanged in Feb

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

frequency of its Japanese government bond purchases unchanged in February from

the January levels.

     The BOJ also left the ranges of the JGB purchases unchanged. However, the

BOJ said it "may increase the frequency as needed" and "will conduct purchases

in a flexible manner, taking account of market conditions."

     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.

     The BOJ has already reduced the frequency of its medium- and super

long-term JGB purchases each to four times.

     --CALENDAR

     The planned JGB purchase operations in February:

     The zones (amounts to be purchased in ranges)

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

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

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

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

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

     The frequencies of operations in each bucket in February plans vs January

actual.

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

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

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

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

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

     The dates of operations

     Feb. 4: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, 10 to 25 years, 25+ years.

     Feb. 6: 5 to 10 years

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

     Feb. 12: 1 to 3 years, 10 to 25 years, 25+ years

     Feb. 14: 5 to 10 years

     Feb. 18: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, 10 to 25 years, 25+ years.

     Feb. 22: 5 to 10 years, 10 to 25 years, 25+ years.

     Feb. 27: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, 5 to 10 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

[TOPICS: MMJBJ$,M$A$$$,M$J$$$,M$$FI$,MN$FI$]