TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan reduced the growth rate in the monetary base last year to the lowest level since undertaking an ultraloose policy in 2013.
The monetary base totaled 504 trillion yen ($4.66 trillion at current rates) at the end of December, up 24 trillion yen from a year earlier for the weakest 12-month gain since Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda enacted the quantitative and qualitative easing programs.
