The monetary base is the currency supplied to the economy as a whole by the Bank; more specifically, it is the sum of banknotes and coins in circulation and financial institutions’ current account deposits at the Bank of Japan.
As of end-2012, its amount outstanding was 138 trillion yen, and it is expected to reach about 200 trillion yen at end2013 and 270 trillion yen at end-2014. It will almost double in two years. This accounts for nearly 60 percent of nominal GDP, far above the levels of any other advanced economies.