The BOJ Gets Serious on Yield-Curve Control

The Bank of Japan has put its "yield-curve control" plan into practice. On Nov. 17 the central bank offered to buy shorter-dated bonds in unlimited amounts, the first time it has wielded the tools it introduced two months ago. This episode hasn't cost the BOJ anything, because the bank offered below-market prices that nobody took up. Even so, it shows how the revamped framework aims to shield Japan from rising global yields.