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Japan slashes rates as growth path vanishes
AFP - 2 hours 9 minutes ago
TOKYO (AFP) - - The Bank of Japan on Friday slashed interest rates to near zero, hoping to stave off a severe recession as the government said the world's second largest economy would not grow until at least 2010.
The bank joined a wave of rate cuts by central banks around the world amid forecasts that the overall global economy will next year suffer its first contraction in decades.
It also tried to shore up ailing credit markets by announcing it would start directly buying commercial paper, the short-term debt that companies issue to run their daily operations.
"We are rapidly heading into more severe conditions," Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told a news conference.
He warned that the worst of the global financial crisis may be yet to come.
"The possibility is high that the severity will further intensify," he said.
After two days of discussions, the Bank of Japan policy board cut the benchmark rate of borrowing from 0.3 percent to 0.1 percent. Seven members voted for the decision, with one member calling for rates to stay put.
The level is even lower than the top range of 0.25 percent set this week by the US Federal Reserve, which drastically cut its own rate in hopes of bolstering the global economy.
But Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index still ended down despite a brief spurt on the rate cut.
The yen, which soared this week to a 13-year high, moved little, with dealers saying rates were now so low that they were focusing on economic fundamentals.
Shirakawa declined to say whether the BoJ could cut the key rate even further.
"Since this is monetary policy, we cannot say this will absolutely happen or this will never happen," he said.
The rate cut came hours after Prime Minister Taro Aso's cabinet approved a projection that the economy will post zero growth in the year to March 2010 following recession in the current year.
Hideki Matsumura, a senior economist at Japan Research Institute, said the estimate of zero growth was too optimistic and predicted a prolonged recession in Japan.
"All that happened was that politically, the government couldn't forecast a contraction," Matsumura said. "A recovery is unlikely in the next two years."
Aso's government had made little secret that it would welcome a rate cut by the central bank, which is independent, to bring down a soaring yen that has been sapping corporate profits.
"I welcome this kind of action in light of the possibility that the economy is falling short of targets," Aso told reporters.
Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano said ahead of the meeting: "By adjusting rates, the BoJ can deliver a message to the financial market, although it's up to them."
Shirakawa denied Friday's decision was affected by political pressure, saying: "I have no intention to do what they say. We only thought about what we can do as a central bank."
Analysts said the rate cut was partly a symbolic gesture as the level was already low. But they said the market could have given a sharply negative reaction if the central bank had done nothing.
Toshihiro Matsuno, research head at SMBC Friend Securities, said the move to buy commercial paper would have more impact by offering a lifeline to ailing companies.
"Through these measures, Japan is trying to steer the economy to a soft landing," Matsuno said.
"But it is doubtful they will lead to an economic recovery as the market outlook is persistently negative," he said.
Japan until 2006 kept rates at virtually zero, a policy now being tried out in the United States as it attempts to get out of an economic rut spurred by a credit crunch at major banks.
But Japan is now in recession again as the global slowdown saps demand for its cars, cameras and other exports, which drove growth in recent years.
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