The monetary base has been increasing at an annual pace of about 60–70 trillion yen – in line with the Bank’s guideline for money market operations – owing to progress in the Bank’s large-scale JGB purchases, and reached its initial projection of 200 trillion yen at end-2013.
Perhaps at least as important, private equity funds are flush with funds, having raised more than $ billion in 2005, a pace that continued in the first quarter of 2006, and general partners of these funds are actively scouting for opportunities to deploy this capital. This robust equity funding, combined with the currently accommodative debt markets, has made many more firms potential targets.