TOKYO, June 18 — Japan’s central bank on Friday announced its first investment fund for efforts to address climate change, as the government works towards its new target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.
“The bank considers that supporting the private sector’s efforts on the issues from a central bank’s standpoint will contribute to stabilising the macroeconomy in the long run.” The extension of business support had been widely expected, said Naoya Oshikubo, senior economist at SuMi TRUST. Japan’s vaccine rollout started comparatively slowly, but has picked up pace in recent weeks. Just over six percent of the population is currently fully vaccinated.
Japan has long struggled to hit 2 per cent inflation target seen as key to kickstarting the world’s third-largest economy, despite a barrage of stimulus and monetary easing packages.