Unconventional monetary policies – common features of the BOJ and ECB  The monetary-easing instruments adopted by the two central banks have several features in common. They are (1) large-scale asset purchases centered on government bonds, (2) forward guidance used to indicate a future monetary-easing stance, and (3) a conditional long-term lending facility (Chart 1 and Reference Chart).
Regarding the first instrument, the large-scale asset-purchase program is referred to as a “balance sheet policy.” This enables a central bank to expand the size of its balance sheet to a predetermined level and to maintain that size over a relatively long period. One of the expected results here is a portfolio rebalancing effect.