日本央行宣布大规模货币宽松计划

The Bank of Japanhas taken the rare step of easing monetary policy for a second month in a row to arrest flagging growth, while making a direct appeal to the government for help to overcome the country’s persistent state of deflation.

日本央行(BoJ)连续第二个月放松货币政策，这一罕见之举旨在结束增长乏力的局面。同时，日本央行还直接呼吁政府采取措施，共同化解该国持续已久的通缩困境。

Before the scheduled policy decision, expectations had been building that the BoJ would downgrade its official forecasts for consumer price rises, which have consistently fallen well short of the 1 per cent target the bank adopted in February. As Japan’s growth has faltered since then, politicians have been applying more pressure on the BoJ to take bolder measures to revive the economy.

日本央行在最近一次例行政策会议上出台上述举措之前，人们曾经预测，它可能会下调对消费物价指数(CPI)的官方预期。该指数多月来一直低于日本央行2月份制定的1%的目标。2月份以来日本经济增速一直徘徊不前，政界人士也一直在向日本央行施加越来越大的压力，敦促其采取更加大胆的举措以重振经济。

On Tuesday the central bank responded by expanding its asset-purchase programme (APP) by about Y11tn ($138bn) to Y91tn, by adding Y10tn of government debt and most of the remainder in exchange traded funds, corporate bonds and commercial paper.

周二，日本央行决定将其资产购买计划(APP)增加11万亿日元（合1380亿美元），达到91万亿日元。在增加的额度中，政府债券为10万亿日元，其余主要是交易所交易基金(ETF)、公司债券、商业票据。

The BoJ also announced the establishment of a special facility to stimulate borrowing, an echo of recent initiatives by the European Central Bankand the Bank of England, under which it will provide long-term funds to banks in unlimited amounts, at very low interest rates.

日本央行同时还宣布建立一项意在刺激借贷的特别机制，以极低利率为银行提供规模无限制的长期资金。日本央行此举是在模仿欧洲央行(ECB)和英国央行(BoE)不久前的做法。

Meanwhile, in an acknowledgment of strong political pressure on monetary policy makers, the announcement was accompanied by a joint statement from the government and the BoJ, declaring that both sides “share the recognition that the critical challenge for Japan’s economy is to overcome deflation as early as possible, and to return to a sustainable growth path with price stability.

日本央行在宣布上述措施的同时，还与日本政府发布了一份联合声明，声明称双方“都意识到日本经济面临的关键挑战就是尽早消除通货紧缩，回归到物价稳定的可持续增长道路。这表明，日本货币政策制定者面临的政治压力非常巨大。

Seiji Maehara, the economy minister, who sat in on the policy makers’ deliberations for a second successive meeting, described the joint statement as “unprecedented.

日本经济财政大臣前原诚司(Seiji Maehara)在参加日本央行政策会议讨论时表示，这份联合声明是“史无前例的。这是前原诚司一个月内连续第二次参加日本央行政策会议。

While some analysts said that the statement implied more direct pressure on the BoJ from politicians, others said it might help to spread the burden.

尽管有些分析师表示，这份声明表明政界人士直接对日本央行施加了更大压力，但也有分析师认为这可能有助于减轻央行负担。

“This is a sort of victory, said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief Japan economist at Credit Suisse in Tokyo. “The BoJ has effectively stated that it will not take full responsibility for ending deflation. If you assume the BoJ has done almost all it can, the ball is now in the government’s court.

瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)驻东京首席日本经济学家白川弘道(Hiromichi Shirakawa)表示：“在某种程度上这是一场胜利。实际上这等于是日本央行发出声明，终结通缩不完全是央行的责任。如果你认为央行已经尽了全力，那么现在‘皮球’已经踢给了政府。