MNI POLICY: BOJ Total JGB Buys Unchanged in July; Some Tweaks

--BOJ Ups Upper End of 1 to 3 Year JGB Buying 

--BOJ Cuts Upper End of 3 to 5 Year JGB Buying 

--BOJ Cuts Upper End of 10 to 25 Year JGB Buying

By Hiroshi Inoue

     TOKYO (MNI) - The Bank of Japan said Friday it will leave the frequency of

its Japanese government bond purchases unchanged in July from June, but adjusted

the upper end of its medium- and super long-term buckets.

     The decision reflects that the BOJ didn't see a need to reduced the overall

volume of JGB buying monthly, but did want to tweak the scale of its purchases

of JGBs with a remaining life of 3 to 5 years and 10 to 25 years after

bid-to-cover ratios fell in those recent operations.

     The BOJ also increased the upper end of JGB buying with a remaining life of

1 to 3 years due to the rise in bid-to-cover ratios at the recent operations.

     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.

     --CALENDAR

     The planned JGB purchase operations in July:

     The zones (amounts to be purchased in ranges)

     --1 to 3 years (Y250-Y500 bln in July vs. Y250-Y450 bln in June)

     --3 to 5 years (Y300-Y500 bln in July vs. Y300-Y550 bln in June)

     --5 to 10 years (Y300-Y650 bln in July vs. Y300-Y650 bln in June)

     --10 to 25 years (Y100-Y250 bln in July vs. Y100-Y300 bln in June)

     --More than 25 years (Y10-Y100 bln in July vs. Y10-Y100 bln in June)

     The frequencies of operations in each zone in July plans vs June actual.

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

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

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

     --10 to 25 years: 3 times (3 times)

     --More than 25 years: 3 times (3 times)

     The dates of operations

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

     July 5: 5 to 10 years.

     July 12: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, 10 to 25 year, more than 25 years.

     July 16: 5 to 10 years.

     July 22: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, 5 to 10 years.

     July 26: 10 to 25 years, more than 25 years.

     July 31: 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, 5 to 10 years.

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

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