As part of such efforts, the Bank started to purchase asset-backed securities (ABSs) in summer 2003, and the total amount of ABSs purchased to date has reached around 1.5 trillion yen.
In addition, in May 2004, with a view to enhancing the liquidity of Japanese government securities (JGS) markets, the Bank introduced a facility which temporarily provides the markets, as a secondary source, with JGSs held by the Bank when market participants experience difficulties in securing specific issues.