Decreasing Japan Treasury Discount Bill issuance, a pick-up in Japanese foreign direct investment, and cross border investment flows: The MUFG Global Markets Podcast

In Japan, Tochigi prefecture lifted the State of Emergency on February 7, though 10 prefectures including Tokyo city will likely maintain it until March 7. With the chill of February, the COVID-19 pandemic should not be considered a thing of the past. USDJPY rise paused after U.S. employment data was released at the end of last week. JPY buying flows could pick up in February. The BoJ announced it plans to scale back on buying JGBs this month. The MoF will also meet this by cutting issuances of TDBs. Japan is putting its own version of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) into practice.

In today’s episode, MUFG Chief Japan Strategist, Takahiro Sekido, discusses the MoF’s outlook for the fiscal balance in February, key points for Japan’s 2020 Balance of Payments, and January cross border flows. He also shares his outlooks for Dollar/Yen, Yen rates, and Yen basis.

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