TOKYO: Japan's ruling party has ruled out asking the Bank of Japan directly underwrite reconstruction bonds to finance rebuilding of areas devastated by last month's earthquake and tsunami, a senior party lawmaker said.
A panel tasked with crafting a bill for reconstruction raised eyebrows last month when media reported that the draft included monetisation of debt through BoJ purchases of reconstruction bonds as an option.
But the head of the panel, Masaharu Nakagawa, said on Monday he saw no need for the central bank to take such action as the bill will also call the government to maintain fiscal discipline.
"It was included as one of various options, but there's no such idea within the party now and there's no need for it," Nakagawa told Reuters in an interview.
"I believe the market is digesting JGBs steadily and there are no grounds for asking for the BoJ to directly underwrite these bonds," he said.
He added that the size of reconstruction spending was yet to be determined.
The BoJ has repeatedly rejected the idea of monetising debt, saying it could unsettle the bond market and undermine investor confidence in the yen. Nakagawa said he shared such concerns.
The ruling party's panel will finish drafting the bill this week so that it can be enacted by parliament in May, he added.
Japan's government approved on Friday a 4 trillion yen ($50 billion) emergency budget for disaster relief and reconstruction after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, without resorting to new borrowing.
But it is bracing for heavier reconstruction spending later this year that will require issuing new bonds and, eventually, raising taxes.
Nakagawa said various taxes could be hiked to help fund reconstruction and there is as yet no consensus within the government on which taxes should be raised.
But he added that he personally thought it would be best to seek public understanding for any hike in the sales tax.
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