Are foreign bond purchases a viable option? At a press conference in July 2012 after becoming a Policy Board member, I remarked that foreign bond purchases might be an option for the Bank but a number of conditions must be met.
For example, the Bank of Japan Act stipulates that the Bank may buy or sell foreign exchange solely as an agent of the government (Article 40); therefore, the Bank cannot make any subjective policy decisions to secure the stability of the yen (Chart 15).