Japan's monetary base surged 36.7 percent from a year earlier to JPY 259.55 trillion (USD 2.27 trillion) at the end of October, marking an all-time high for three months in a row, the central bank said Wednesday. That was up from JPY 252.58 trillion (USD 2.21 trillion) held at the end of September, and the highest level since comparable data available since July 1996.
The monetary base comprises money supplied to the markets by the Bank of Japan (BOJ), including cash in circulation and commercial banks' deposits held at the BOJ's current accounts. An expansion in the monetary base has inflationary effect.
The increase was attributed to BOJ's continuing purchases of government bonds and other securities. In April last year, the BOJ introduced drastic measures to double the monetary base in two years by pumping large amounts of money into financial markets to achieve its 2-percent inflation goal and pull Japan out of deflation that has lasted for nearly 15 years.
Last Friday, the central bank unexpectedly announced additional stimulus to achieve the target, including expansion of monetary base and purchases of government bonds. With the fresh measures, the monetary base is now projected to rise to JPY 275 trillion (USD 2.40 trillion) at the end of this year, up from the previous target of JPY 270 trillion (USD 2.36 trillion).