Statistical Treatment of the Japan Post Bank, etc.

September 21, 2007
Bank of Japan

The Japan Post Bank Co., Ltd. (hereafter, the Japan Post Bank) will start their business operations on October 1, 2007. Statistics compiled by the Bank of Japan, will be treated as follows:

"Reserves"

Figures for the deposits of the Japan Post Bank will be included in "Reserves," since the Japan Post Bank will be a financial institution designated in the Law Concerning Reserve Deposit Requirement System.

"BOJ Current Account Balances by Sector"

Figures for deposits of the Japan Post Bank will be included in "Other institutions subject to the reserve requirement."

"Figures on Reserves"

The release of these figures will be terminated (for details, see "Changes in the format of "Sources of Changes in Current Account Balances at the Bank of Japan and Market Operations" and other relevant items "; September 21, 2007)

"Sources of Changes in Current Account Balances at the Bank of Japan and Market Operations"

(1) Daily

The format of the release will be revised from October 16, 2007, and figures regarding deposits of the Japan Post Bank will be included in the following items (for details, see "Changes in the format of "Sources of Changes in Current Account Balances at the Bank of Japan and Market Operations" and other relevant items"; September 21, 2007).

- Net Change in Current Account Balances
- Current Account Balances (Amount Outstanding)
- Reserve Balances (Amount Outstanding)

(2) Monthly (preliminary and final figures) and Long-term Time-series Data

The format of the release will be revised from the October 2007 data, and figures regarding deposits of the Japan Post Bank will be included in "Current Account Balances" and "Reserve Balances" (for details, see "Changes in the format of "Sources of Changes in Current Account Balances at the Bank of Japan and Market Operations" and other relevant items"; September 21, 2007).

"Monetary Base" and "Monetary Base and the Bank of Japan's Transactions"

"Reserve Balances and the Deposit of the Japan Post" will be renamed "Reserve Balances." Deposits of the Japan Post Bank will be included in "Monetary Base," "Current Account Balances," and "Reserve Balances." The release of the "Current Account Balances excluding the Deposit of the Japan Post" will be terminated.

"Bank of Japan Accounts"

Deposits of the Japan Post Bank will be included in "Current Deposits."

"Loans and Discounts by the Bank of Japan"

Loans to the Japan Post Bank will be included in "Other Financial Institutions."

"Money Stock"

The release of "Deposits of Post Offices" will be terminated; it will instead be combined with "Deposits of Other Financial Institutions.¹" For the time being, they will be released as "Deposits of Post Offices and Deposits of Other Financial Institutions" (they will continue to be composed in M3+CDs, but not in M2+CDs.). The money stock statistics will be revised from the June 2008 release to correspond to the changes in environment, such as the privatization of the Japan Post and the diversification of financial products.

1. Deposits of Shinkumi Federation Bank, Credit Cooperatives, National Federation of Labor Credit Association, Labor Credit Association, Credit Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives, Agricultural Cooperatives, Credit Federation of Fishery Cooperatives, and Fishery Cooperatives.

"Principal Figures of Financial Institutions (Preliminary figures)"

Figures for loans to and deposits from the Japan Post Bank will be included in "Loans and Discounts" and "Deposits and CDs." Further information on the release method and data will be announced accordingly by the Financial Systems and Bank Examination Department. Figures for loans to the Japan Post Bank and Japan Post Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereafter, the Japan Post Insurance) will not be included here, since these loans are excluded as loans to financial institutions by definition, whereas deposits from these two institutions will be included as deposits from financial institutions.

"Statistics Concerning Deposits and Loans Market" (excludes "Principal Figures of Financial Institutions")

Figures for the Japan Post Bank will not be included in "Domestically Licensed Banks." Deposits from the Japan Post Bank and the Japan Post Insurance will be regarded as deposits of financial institutions. Loans to the Japan Post Bank and the Japan Post Insurance will be regarded as loans to the finance and insurance sectors.

"Assets and Liabilities of Financial Institutions, etc"

Figures for the Japan Post Bank will not be included in all categories of the statistics.

"Flow of Funds"

Currently under examination.

Inquires should be addressed to:

Statistics Planning Research and Statistics Department

E-mail: post.rsd5@boj.or.jp

Reference for individual statistics:

"Reserves" and "Monetary Base and the Bank of Japan's Transactions": Monetary Operations Planning, Monetary Affairs Department

"BOJ Current Account Balances by Sector," "Figures on Reserves," and "Sources of Changes in Current Account Balances at the Bank of Japan and Market Operations": Open Market Operations, Financial Markets Department.

"Monetary Base," "Money Stock," "Flow of Funds," and "Statistics Concerning Deposits and Loans Market (excluding figures compiled individually by the Financial Systems and Bank Examination Department)": Financial Statistics, Research and Statistics Department.

"Bank of Japan Accounts": Accounting, Secretariat of the Policy Board.

"Loans and Discounts by the Bank of Japan": BOJ-Net Operations Control and Operations Risk Management, Operations Department.

"Principal Figures of Financial Institutions (Preliminary Figures)," "Assets and Liabilities of Financial Institutions, etc.," and "Statistics Concerning Deposits and Loans Market (figures compiled individually by the Financial Systems and Bank Examination Department)"²: Financial Data Center, Financial Systems and Bank Examination Department.

1. 2"Statistics Concerning Deposits and Loans Market (figures compiled individually by the Financial Systems and Bank Examination Department)" include: "Average Interest Rates Posted at Financial Institutions by Type of Deposit," "Average Contracted Interest Rates on Loans and Discounts," "Data on Commitment Lines Extended by Japanese Banks," "Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices at Large Japanese Banks," and "Amount Outstanding of Loans and Discounts."