BOJ's faster ETF sales to yield $6.3B a year, Japan finance minister says

Japan's central bank expects its faster unwind of exchange-traded fund holdings to throw off roughly 1 trillion yen ($6.33 billion) more every year, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told reporters on Tuesday. She credited the BOJ with presenting that figure, but cautioned it isn't locked in.

The BOJ decided on October 30 to lift its annual ETF sales to 860 billion yen from 330 billion yen, measured on a book-value basis. The central bank hands a slice of its yearly net profit — ETF sales included — to state coffers.

The timing matters. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi unveiled plans last week to funnel proceeds from those ETF sales into projects pitched as vital to Japan's economic security, part of a hunt for fresh revenue that doesn't lean too hard on issuing debt.

Katayama refused to put a firm number on the windfall. The exact remittance depends on fiscal year-end calculations and budget procedures, she said, adding only that an outlook had been supplied by the party concerned. She also drew a line around the BOJ's independence, noting that decisions on ETF sales and other monetary operations rest solely with the central bank under central bank law.

Government hopes for bigger profit remittances won't sway how the BOJ runs those operations, Katayama said. The yen was quoted at 158 to the dollar.