Economics: Japan's monetary policy

The Japanese government has signalled it is ending its five year long policy of quantitative easin...

The Japanese government has signalled it is ending its five year long policy of quantitative easing, which has seen interest rates at 0% since the turn of the century in an effort to stave off deflation and stimulate economic growth. Abbey’s head of client investment John Kelly believes the success or failure of this change could be one of the most influential events on the economy and world markets in 2006. “Japan had an economic problem all through the 1990s and into 2000 and was suffering deflation. In such a situation companies go bust very quickly and the banks fail to work. It...