— Japan Sep M3 Money Stock Also Steady At +2.1% Y/Y
TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s money stock, measured by the key M2
aggregate, rose 2.8% y/y in September, the same rate as in August but a
slight acceleration from the 2.7% rise in July, the Bank of Japan said
on Wednesday.
Money stock growth had accelerated in the March-May period,
reaching a recent peak of 3.1% in May, but remained below the record
rise of +3.4% marked in October 2009.
Japan’s M3 money stock aggregate rose 2.1% y/y, also the same rate
as in August.
Like M2, M3 growth peaked in May — at 2.3% — and has decelerated
slightly since.
M3 growth hit a record growth of +2.4% in October and November
2009.
The September M2 growth came in slightly higher than the consensus
call of a 2.7% rise. The M3 figure was in line with the average
economist forecast of a 2.1% rise.
In June 2008, the BOJ changed its measures for money supply data in
lined with the privatization of Japan Post Bank Co. in October 2007.
The central bank has created the M3 category, which comprises M2
plus certificates of deposits and deposits at the postal bank, credit
unions and agricultural cooperatives among other lenders.
The BOJ now calls its main money supply measure simply M2,
replacing the previous M2 plus CDs designation.
The BOJ continues to focus on both M2 and M3 data to gauge economic
activity at the moment as the bank has no long-term historical data on
the M3 aggregate yet.
Quasi-money — cash equivalent and other assets that are easily
convertible into cash — rose 0.7% in September from a year earlier,
slowing from the 0.8% rise in August.
The narrow measure of money supply, M1, which consists of currency
in circulation and deposit money, rose 2.4% on year in September, after
rising 2.2% in the previous month.
Certificates of deposit were up 28.6% in September, after rising a
revised 28.5% (preliminary +28.3%) in August.
tokyo@marketnews.com
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