By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
TOKYO, April 2 (Reuters) - The amount of money circulating in Japan soared by a fifth to hit a record in March as central bank pumped out cash to cushion blows to the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average balance of monetary base, or the amount of cash in circulation and deposits at the BOJ, rose 20.8% in March from a year earlier to 613.4 trillion yen ($5.5 trillion), marking the fastest annual gain since February 2017, central bank data showed on Friday.
The increase was driven largely by a surge in the BOJ’s purchases of short-term securities and demand for its loan scheme aimed at channelling funds to COVID-hit firms.