The Center for Pacific Basin Studies promotes cooperation among central banks in the Pacific Basin and provides insight into and analysis of economic policy issues affecting the region.
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Pacific Basin Notes
What’s Up with Inflation Expectations in Japan?
| May 20, 2024
Both actual inflation and inflation expectations increased recently in Japan after decades of being undesirably low. An estimate based on nominal and real Japanese bond yields adjusted for liquidity and other risk premiums confirms that investors’ long-term inflation expectations have also increased. However, projections indicate that further increases are less likely and that long-term expected inflation in Japan is likely to remain anchored below the Bank of Japan’s 2% inflation target.
Working Papers
Inflation Expectations, Liquidity Premia and Global Spillovers in Japanese Bond Markets
Jens H. E. Christensen and Mark M. Spiegel
We provide market-based estimates of Japanese inflation expectations using an arbitrage-free dynamic term structure model of nominal and real yields that accounts for liquidity premia and the deflation protection afforded by Japanese inflation-indexed bonds, known as JGBi’s. We find that JGBi liquidity premia exhibit significant variation, and even switch sign. Properly accounting for them significantly lowers the estimated value of the indexed bonds’ deflation protection and affects inflation risk premium estimates. After liquidity adjustment, long-term Japanese inflation expectations have remained relatively stable at levels modestly exceeding one percent during the pandemic period. We then utilize our estimated liquidity measure to confirm the existence of statistically significant and economically meaningful spillovers to the JGBi market from global bond market illiquidity, as proxied by periods of low U.S. Treasury market depth.
Conferences
2024 Pacific Basin Research – CALL FOR PAPERS
May 15, 2024
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA
2023 Asia Economic Policy Conference: Global Linkages in a Post-Pandemic World
November 16 – November 17, 2023
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA