TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan has begun selling equities it bought from commercial banks in the previous decade to ease anxiety over the financial sector, offsetting these divestments with extra purchases of exchange-traded funds.
The book value of these BOJ-owned shares fell 16.2 billion yen ($149 million) last month, account balances published every 10 days show. The central bank plans over the next 10 years to divest the entire lot, which had a book value of slightly more than 1.3 trillion yen at the end of April.
