新たな緩和策―歯止めを壊すだけでは

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 5
EDITORIAL: BOJ needs self-control in implementing bold easy money policy
新たな緩和策―歯止めを壊すだけでは

The Bank of Japan under new Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on April 4 decided on a new monetary-easing policy as part of efforts to "do everything possible" to achieve a 2-percent annual inflation target in two years.
　日本銀行が、年２％のインフレを２年で達成するために「やれることは何でもやる」という黒田東彦新総裁のもと、新たな金融緩和を決めた。

The BOJ has changed its policy indicator from an uncollateralized overnight call money rate to a monetary base, or the total amount of cash in circulation and commercial banks' reserves with the BOJ.
The central bank said "it will enter a new phase of monetary easing both in terms of quantity and quality."
　「量・質ともに次元の違う金融緩和」を掲げ、政策の指標を金利水準ではなく、市中に出回る現金と銀行の日銀への預金を合わせた金額（マネタリーベース）に変えた。

By buying larger quantities of government bonds and other commodities, it plans to bolster the monetary base by 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen a year. By the end of 2014, the amount is expected to reach 270 trillion yen, nearly double the balance at the end of last year.
　国債などを大量に買うことでマネタリーベースを年間６０兆～７０兆円増やす。１４年末には２７０兆円と、昨年末のほぼ倍になる見込みである。

To achieve that goal, the BOJ removed some long-standing rules.
　問題は、その実現のために、これまで日銀が設けてきた決まりを一挙に取り払ったことだ。

For example, long-term government bonds that it could buy were limited to those that would mature in three years or less. But that restriction has been lifted.
　たとえば、買い入れる長期国債は満期まで３年以内のものに限るとしてきたが、その制限を撤廃する。

Moreover, the asset purchase program for monetary easing purposes will be absorbed into its bond purchases for ordinary monetary control operations. In addition, the BOJ decided to temporarily suspend the "banknote principle," a rule that sets the upper limit on the outstanding amount of government bonds it holds to the outstanding balance of banknotes issued.
As a result, the BOJ can now purchase an unlimited amount of government bonds.
　さらに、金融緩和のために国債などを買い入れてきた基金を日銀本体に統合する。そのうえで、日銀本体が国債を買う際には、お札の発行残高を上限にするというルールを一時凍結し、日銀本体でいくらでも国債を買えるようにする。

It is true that in some respects, the past rules left the impression that the BOJ is passive about monetary relaxation.
　確かに過去の決まり事は「金融緩和に消極的な日銀」という印象を与えてきた面がある。

However, the measures that were in place played a significant role in showing the central bank's policy of preventing government bond prices from nosediving by removing any suspicion that it was trying to finance government budget deficits.
　しかし、一連の措置は日銀が政府の財政赤字の尻ぬぐいをしていると疑われ、国債が暴落するような事態を招かないよう、中央銀行としての意思を示す役割があった。

This helped to prevent problems in everyday monetary control, which could consequently lead to wild fluctuations of long-term interest rates. Such a situation could easily arise if the BOJ makes excessive purchases of long-term government bonds.
　日銀が長期国債を買いすぎることで、日々の金融調節に支障が出たり、結果的に長期金利が乱高下したりするのを避ける手立てでもあった。

We fear that the BOJ under Kuroda's leadership doesn't have any intention of coming up with new measures to prevent it from crossing the line.
　黒田日銀に、これらに代わる歯止めを設ける姿勢が見られないのには、危惧を感じる。

The BOJ also has a responsibility to show how it will deal with difficulties that may arise in the future, such as rising interest rates.
　金利が上昇する際の対応など、今後予想される困難な局面への基本姿勢もあらかじめ示しておく責任がある。

In the past, however, even when the monetary base increased, deflation continued. This is because capital needs do not grow in the private sector unless there are attractive investment destinations.
　過去の経験では、マネタリーベースが増えてもデフレは解消しなかった。民間経済に有望な投資先がなければ、資金需要は増えないからだ。

Given such circumstances, excessive dependence on monetary easing alone could give rise to a distorted situation such as an asset price bubble and “bad inflation” caused by the weak yen that pushes up import prices.
　そうしたなかで金融緩和ばかりに依存する経済運営では、円安に伴う輸入物価の上昇だけがもたらされる「悪いインフレ」や不動産バブルなど、いびつな現象が広がりかねない。

The government has an important role to play by implementing drastic regulatory reform to improve the real economy. Wage increases and expanded employment will help achieve this goal.
　賃金の上昇や雇用の拡大を通じた実体経済の改善に向けて、思い切った規制改革をするなど政府の役割は大きい。

As for Kuroda, he needs to prod the government and the private sector to make all-out efforts to secure fiscal discipline and forge ahead with reforms. Only then will the central bank's bold monetary-easing policy become the effective tool that it is intended to be.
　黒田総裁は大胆な緩和の効果がきちんと引き出されるよう、財政規律の確保や改革への努力を、政府や民間に促す責任も果たしてほしい。