In Japan’s Nikkei:
- For the fiscal year ending March 31, JGBs held by life insurers could decline for the first time in 17 years
- As of Nov. 30, the insurers’ JGB balance was about 149 trillion yen, down 0.4% from a year earlier, according to data released Tuesday by the Life Insurance Association of Japan
- Conversely, life insurers’ foreign bond holdings as of Nov. 30 were up 18.2% from a year earlier
And, more:
- Banks have already been reducing their JGB holdings, lowering their balance by more than 20% during the past two years
- Their holdings declined by 6.6% from a year earlier, to around 130 trillion yen as of Nov. 30, according to the Bank of Japan
More at the article: Japan banks, insurers shunning domestic government bonds
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Bit of a quiet start for the yen this morning: