Release of minutes of the Bank of Japan's Great East Japan Earthquake “Strong measures to prevent deterioration”

The Bank of Japan has released the minutes of the monetary policy decision meeting in the first half of 2011, when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck.

At the meeting three days after the earthquake, additional monetary easing was taken, but while the full extent of the damage could not be grasped, the committee members who attended said that strong measures were needed to prevent economic deterioration, and responded. It can be seen that it was decided.

On the 30th, the Bank of Japan released the minutes of the monetary policy meeting held from January to June 2011.

In response to the Great East Japan Earthquake that struck on March 11, the Bank of Japan hurriedly shortened the meeting, which normally takes two days, to one day on the 14th, with Saturday and Sunday in between, to discuss how to respond.

At this point, the full extent of the damage could not be grasped and there was a power shortage, and the committee members who attended said, "It is important to prevent the anxiety of the entire nation and the deterioration of the mind." There were many opinions that strong measures should be taken promptly to prevent economic deterioration.

Regarding the method of monetary easing, the committee members pointed out that "to foster a sufficient sense of security, you should definitely avoid dispensing," and agreed that it is necessary to supply abundant funds to the market. did.

Based on these discussions, then President Masaaki Shirakawa said, "It is necessary to disseminate information carefully to explain it well," while maintaining the zero interest rate policy and buying government bonds and corporate bonds through the fund established in the previous year. We have embarked on additional monetary easing to expand the scale of inclusion from 35 trillion yen to 40 trillion yen.

However, after the earthquake, the Japanese economy was hit by not only deflation but also power shortages and the historical appreciation of the yen and the depreciation of the dollar, and the BOJ continued to face difficult responses.