July 28, Friday, 2023

1. Data from Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency show 7,235 heatstroke patients were taken to hospital nationwide in June. The figure is the second largest for the month of June since the statistics began in 2010, following 15, 969 recorded in June of last year. 2. A Japanese government panel has proposed that the country’s average hourly minimum wage for this fiscal year be raised above 1,000 yen, or about seven dollars and 20 cents, for the first time. The labor ministry panel members, including representatives from unions and corporate management, had been discussing a minimum wage hike to match the rising cost of living.
3.Policymakers at the Bank of Japan say they are introducing greater flexibility in their yield-curve control policy, or YCC. But they are otherwise leaving their ultra-loose program unchanged. The announcement came after the BOJ wrapped up its 2-day policy meeting on Friday. The officials said the yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond will be allowed to fluctuate in a range of around plus and minus half a percentage point as before. But now, they say they will conduct YCC with flexibility regarding the upper and lower bounds of the range, viewing them not as rigid limits. The BOJ will offer to purchase 10-year JGBs at 1 percent.