The Bank of Japan said on Wednesday it would scale back some operations following the government’s decision to declare a state of emergency amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The central bank will continue operations crucial to social infrastructure such as issuing bank notes, making monetary policy decisions and ensuring smooth settlement of funds.
But it will scale back non-urgent operations such as long-term research and studies for academic papers. It will continue to release key economic indicators as usual, the BOJ said.
“The BOJ will scale back some of its operations in line with the government’s request to avoid outings,” it said in a statement.
“But we will continue operations deemed necessary as a central bank, under close coordination with the central and local governments, as well as with financial institutions.”
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a state of emergency to fight coronavirus infections in major population centres including Tokyo, giving authorities more power to press people to stay at home and businesses to close.
The BOJ holds a quarterly meeting of its regional branch managers on Thursday via tele-conference. Its next monetary policy meeting will be held on April 27-28.
