Japans policymakers play down contagion risk from SVB collapse

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese policymakers on Tuesday played down the risk of the economy taking a hit from the collapse of U.S. lender Silicon Valley Bank, even as fears of a contagion hit financial stocks and sent domestic share prices tumbling.

东京（路透社）——日本政策制定者周二淡化经济因美国银行硅谷银行倒闭而受到打击的风险，尽管对金融股蔓延的担忧打击了金融股并导致国内股价暴跌。

Speaking at a regular news conference, Economy Minister Shigeyuki Goto said the government was closely watching for any potential fallout on Japan‘s economy, but did not expect a major impact from the U.S. lender’s collapse for now.

日本经济再生大臣后藤茂之在例行新闻发布会上表示，政府正密切关注日本经济可能受到的任何影响，但目前预计美国银行倒闭不会产生重大影响。

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki echoed the view, saying he saw the possibility of Japan‘s financial system being jolted by Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse as small.

财务大臣铃木俊一也同意这一观点，称他认为日本金融体系因硅谷银行倒闭而受到冲击的可能性很小。

“We‘re seeing some risk-aversive moves in the market. But Japan’s financial system is stable,” Suzuki said at a separate news conference.

“我们看到市场出现了一些避险行为。但日本的金融体系是稳定的，”铃木在另一场新闻发布会上表示。

Japanese financial shares on Tuesday were set for their biggest plunge since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as investors focused on the potential risk to commercial banks from their huge U.S. Treasury holdings.

日本金融股周二势将创下 covid-19 大流行病爆发以来的最大跌幅，原因是投资者关注商业银行持有的巨额美国国债可能带来的潜在风险。

The drop in bank shares, as well as a rise in the safe-haven yen, sent the Nikkei average down by around 2%, hitting Japanese firms weeks before they close their books on March 31.

银行股下跌以及避险日元上涨，导致日经指数下跌约 2%，日本企业在 3 月 31 日关闭账簿前几周受到打击。

The market turbulence also comes ahead of a leadership transition at the Bank of Japan (BOJ) with all eyes on how soon the new governor, Kazuo Ueda, will dial back its massive stimulus once he takes office next month.

市场动荡也发生在日本央行 (boj) 领导层换届之前，所有人都在关注新任行长上田一夫在下个月上任后将在多长时间内撤回其大规模刺激措施。

Many analysts had expected the BOJ would end or phase out its bond yield curve control (YCC) policy this year, as rising inflation and global interest rates have triggered market attacks on a 0.50% cap set for the 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield.

许多分析师曾预计日本央行将在今年结束或逐步取消其债券收益率曲线控制 (ycc) 政策，因为通胀上升和全球利率上升引发了市场对 10 年期日本政府债券 (jgb) 设定的 0.50% 上限的攻击） 屈服。

But with safe-haven demand for JGBs pushing the 10-year yield down to 0.24%, the BOJ may see little rush in tweaking the YCC policy, some analysts say.

但一些分析师表示，由于对日本国债的避险需求将 10 年期国债收益率推低至 0.24%，日本央行可能不会急于调整 ycc 政策。

“JGB yields are now off their highs, which gives the BOJ some time to contemplate how best to tweak YCC,” said Nobuyasu Atago, a former BOJ official who is now chief economist at Japans Ichiyoshi Securities.

“日本国债收益率现在脱离高位，这让日本央行有时间考虑如何最好地调整 ycc，”现任日本一吉证券首席经济学家的前日本央行官员 nobuyasu atago 表示。

“But that doesn‘t mean the BOJ can sit idle for too long. If U.S. growth cools, that would hurt Japan’s economy and force the BOJ to come up with means to ramp up stimulus,” he said. “Thats pretty difficult given rates are stuck at zero in Japan.”

“但这并不意味着日本央行可以闲置太久。如果美国经济增长降温，那将损害日本经济，并迫使日本央行想出办法加大刺激力度，”他说。 “鉴于日本的利率维持在零水平，这相当困难。”

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Yoshifumi Takemoto; Editing by Jamie Freed)

（leika kihara 的报道；tetsushi kajimoto 和 yoshifumi takemoto 的补充报道；jamie freed 的编辑）