TOKYO, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Japan (BOJ) held a record 53.34 percent of outstanding Japanese government bonds at the end of March, after it ramped up buying to hold down the yield on the benchmark 10-year issue, the central bank said Tuesday.
The BOJ's bond holdings, excluding those with short-term maturities, came to 576.06 trillion yen (4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of March 31, while total government debt issued stood at 1,079.96 trillion yen, according to the central bank's report on fund flows for January-March.
The BOJ has held more than half of the government's debt for the third straight quarter, it said.
The BOJ's massive holding of bonds came as the central bank stepped up its purchases of government bonds in a bid to curb rises in interest rates as bond yields faced upward pressure in tandem with those of its overseas counterparts amid a global trend of monetary tightening to tame inflation.
Under its yield curve control program, the BOJ sets short-term interest rates at minus 0.1 percent while guiding 10-year Japanese government bond yields around zero percent. A 0.5-percent cap was placed on the benchmark yield in December last year. (1 U.S. dollar equals 143.5 yen) ■