Devaluation of Japanese financial assets deepens after Brexit

Tokyo, Sep 26 (IANS) Financial assets held by Japanese have lost value between March and June due to the effects of Brexit on the markets, marking two consecutive quarters of decline, according to data released by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Monday.

At end of June, these assets depreciated by 1.7 per cent compared to the same month in 2015, falling to $17.3 trillion, EFE news reported.

This loss of value was preceded in March by the first devaluation of individual financial assets in Japan in six years due to the yen becoming stronger since early 2016 and the consequent devaluation of the Japanese market.

According to June data, deposits and withdrawals, which accounted for 52.7 per cent of Japanese assets rose 1.2 per cent in June to $9.12 trillion.

The data also showed that in June the BOJ remained the main holder of sovereign debt, with a record volume of $3.95 trillion representing a rise of 34.6 per cent year-on-year.

BOJ has been buying huge amounts of public debt held by financial institutions since it launched its large-scale quantitative easing programme in 2013 to liquidate the system, with the aim of achieving a stable inflation of 2 per cent.