Japan Household Financial Assets at Record-High 2,199 T. Yen

   Tokyo, June 27 (Jiji Press)--Financial assets held by Japanese households as of the end of March grew 7.1 pct from a year earlier to 2,199 trillion yen, hitting a record high for five consecutive quarters, Bank of Japan data showed Thursday.
   The balances of shareholdings and investment trust funds increased on higher stock prices. The record-breaking advance also reflected revisions to some underlying statistical data.
   Shareholdings went up 33.7 pct to 313 trillion yen, and investment trusts gained 31.5 pct to 119 trillion yen. Both broke their records as the Nikkei 225 stock average logged a record high in March after the launch of the new Nippon Individual Savings Account tax exemption program for small-lot investors in January.
   The balance of cash and deposits expanded 1.1 pct to 1,118 trillion yen. Insurance policies saw a rise of 1.0 pct to 382 trillion yen as a weaker yen pushed up the balance of foreign currency-denominated policies in force.
   On the contrary, the proportion of Japanese government bonds held by the BOJ excluding treasury discount bills fell for two consecutive quarters to log 53.25 pct. Of the total balance of 1,082 trillion yen, the BOJ held 576 trillion yen.

(2024/06/27-15:40)

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