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BOARD OF e O V E R N O R S

D i v i s i o n OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCE

February 5, 1961; •

H. 13

NO, 136

CAPITAL MARKET DEVELOPMENTS ABROAD
--

I,

• I,
-II.
Jaoan:

Japan
Nine Charts on Financial Markets Abroad
Money and Capital Markets in December-January

\
^.Japan turned actively to European capital markets in December and
January and raised a t o t a l of # 5 million; but the borrowings were mostly in
U.S. dollars and. not in European currencies. Two issues of convertible debentures t o t a l i n g $5 and $15 million were successfully floated in December and a
bond issue f o r $25 million was floated in January. These e f f o r t s r e f l e c t the
damper placed by the United States' 1 proposed i n t e r e s t equalization tax on
Japanese s e c u r i t i e s issues in the U.S. No issues have been placed in the U.S0
since l a s t October. With an increase in imports, however, Japanese acceptance
and other indebtedness to U.S. banks has risen sharply since August.
Table 1.

Japan:

Short- and Long-Term Borrowings in the U.So

Change during y r .
I960 1961 1962
Bank loans!/
Securities^/
l7
2/
a/

1962

11

I

U80
30

J*

212
111

-22 .3L

512

780

353

273

722

250 - 2 0
16

HI

-17
8

IV

Change during period
1963
II
I I I Sent.
I
11

29
27

J !
62

56

118
J&
202

- 7
60

69
0

53

69

Oct.

Nov.

a/10
• " J
. 15

a/111
~
0

Short-term l i a b i l i t i e s to U.S. banks,
New security f l o t a t i o n s .
Preliminary.
There are also indications that^the volume of term loans extended p r i marily by UcS. banks to Japan has been r i s i n g . In recent months, Japan has
released the following data on intemediate-term foreign loans approved by the
Foreign Investment Council:
Date Approved
Sept.
Oct,
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.

10,
1,
22,
12,
17,
21,

1963
1963
1963
1963
1963
1961




Range of Maturities .

Amount
$67.0
6,9
18.5
Uh.5
62.1
2U.8

million
million
million
million
million
million

3
3
2
2
2
2

to 10 years
to 5 years
y r s . 10 months
y r s . 10 months
y r s . 10 months
yrs. 10 months

OFFICIAL USE ONLY
(Decontrolled a f t e r 6 months)

to
to
to
to

5 years.
12 j e a r s .
21 years.
10 years.

111

OFFICIAL USE ONIX

- 2 -

Japan continued to experience some balance of payments d i f f i c u l t i e s in
December - January, and f o r the t h i r d month in a row, i n t e r n a t i o n a l reserves
declined. From the end of October — when reserves reached a peak f o r the year
of $1,922 million — through the end of January, reserves declined $6? m i l l i o n .
The decline in December and January was $33 and .*.23 m i l l i o n , - r e s p e c t i v e l y , •
Primarily because of t h e worsening trend in the balance of payments,
the Bank of Japan began t i g h t e n i n g money in December by doubling the commercial
bank requirements f o r a l l deposits other than ti-^e d e p o s i t s f o r the l a r g e r banks.
This move reportedly r a i s e d t h e reserve deposits of the large c i t y banks in
December from W> b i l l i o n t o ¥110 b i l l i o n and contributed to an increase in
on-e of the c a l l loan r a t e s by 2 percentage points t o 11,680 p e r c e n t . E f f e c t i v e
January 1, 196k, the Bank of Japan also r e i n s t i t u t e d "window guidance" o p e r a t i o n s .
This means t h a t c r e d i t s extended to commercial banks by the Bank of Japan w i l l be
ra tio ned.
Domestic monetary conditions tightened in December but eased in January
with the usual seasonal reduction of currency in c i r c u l a t i o n . Call loan r a t e s
increased s u b s t a n t i a l l y in December and the average i n t e r e s t r a t e on bank loans
and discounts leveled off in October a f t e r a steady decline since November of 1962.
Stock p r i c e s reached a low for the year on December 18, but moved up s t e a d i l y in
January,
Money market. The t i g h t e n i n g in the money market t h a t began in midNovember continued through t h e end of December. Immediately a f t e r the f i r s t of
the y e a r , however, t h e marked eased s u b s t a n t i a l l y . The t i g h t e r market in
December was due mainly to t h e increase in commercial bank reserve requirements
and a ¥lj.l2 b i l l i o n increase i n bank notes in c i r c u l a t i o n . This was only p a r t l y
o f f s e t by net Treasury disbursements of ¥2h5 b i l l i o n and Bank of Japan net purchases of s e c u r i t i e s of ¥206 b i l l i o n . During most of January, conditions in t h e
money market continued to remain r e l a t i v e l y easy.
I n t e r e s t r a t e s . Call loan r a t e s rose s u b s t a n t i a l l y in the l a s t week of
November and December, but f e l l sharply a f t e r the f i r s t of the y e a r . The January
decline r e f l e c t e d c t h e usual r e t u r n of funds to the banks following heavy consumer
spending in December. The r a t e f o r overnight money rose s t e a d i l y from 6.935 per
cent on November 27 to 8.395 per cent on December 31, but f e l l back sharply to
6.935 oer cent on January L. The r a t e f o r overmonth-end money (repayable at a
day's n o t i c e i n the following month) increased from 8.9h3 per cent on November 28
t o 11,680 per cent on December 30, but dropped t o 9.125 per cent on January 1|.
Unlike the i n t e r e s t r a t e s f o r overnight and unconditional (repayable at a day's
notice.) c a l l loan money, the r a t e f o r overmonth-end money i s not s u b j e c t t o
voluntary c e i l i n g s e s t a b l i s h e d by the bankers and c a l l loan brokers, hence i t i s
g e n e r a l l y the highest c a l l loan r a t e .
The average i n t e r e s t r a t e f o r bank loans and discounts leveled off in
- O c t o b e r , remaining at the same l e v e l as in September. (See Table 2), This
r e f l e c t s in p a r t the t i g h t e r monetary policy t h e Bank of Japan i n s t i t u t e d l a s t




OFFICIAL UFE ONLY

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

-

-3-

f a l l , which included net sales of s e c u r i t i e s in October and November in i t s open
market operations, I t appears that the steady decline in the r a t e , which f i r s t - "
began in November of 1962, has been h a l t e d , and with the increase i n commercial
bank reserve requirements in December, a gradual r i s e in the r a t e now seems
likely.
Table 2.

Japan:

Average Monthly I n t e r e s t R&te on Bank Loans and Discounts

March
June
September
December
1/

:

1959

I960

1961

1962

1963

8.18
8.28
8.06
8.11

8.21
8.22
8.1k
8.08

7.92
7.88
8.00
8.20

8.22
8.23
8.2k
8.09

7.92
7.75
7.68,
7.681/

\

October.

Bank loans and discounts. Bank c r e d i t increased 2.3 per cent in
November, somewhat l e s s than the 2.6 per cent r i s e a year e a r l i e r . This r e p resents a r e v e r s a l of the previous trend in 1963 when bank c r e d i t rose at a
f a s t e r r a t e than a year e a r l i e r . The r a t h e r high r a t e of increase in 1962
r e f l e c t s the relaxation of the t i g h t money policy in October of t h a t y e a r .
Although the November 1963 r i s e in c r e d i t was s u b s t a n t i a l , i t i s possible t h a t
i t might have been even higher, in the absence of Bank of Japan net bond sales
during t h a t month.
Bank deposits in November 1963 rose 3.3 per cent as against 3.5 per
cent a year e a r l i e r . Increases i n loans and s e c u r i t i e s holdings in November
1963 were l e s s than a year e a r l i e r , but b i l l s discounted rose 2.0 per cent
compared to 1.2 per cent a year e a r l i e r , .
The proportion of bank loans and discounts extended f o r purchases of
equipment was i 6 . 8 per cent in November. The r a t i o has been gradually increasing
since March when i t reached a low f o r the year at 16.3 per cent.
Early in Janu-iy the Bank of Japan announced t h a t i t would resume
"window guidance" operations, previously discontinued in May of 1963, whereby
l i m i t s are placed on the amount of c r e d i t accommodation t h a t commercial banks
can obtain from the c e n t r a l bank. For t h e f i r s t quarter of 1961+, the bank intends
to extend 10 per cent l e s s in c r e d i t to 13 large c i t y banks than i t d i d . i n the same
period a year earlier., This w i l l amount to ¥233 b i l l i o n or 2.8 per cent of t h e
outstanding-loan balance of these banks a t the end of 1963.
Bond market. New issues of domestic bonds remained a t r e l a t i v e l y high
levels in October and November. Total issues in November were ¥138 b i l l i o n , only
¥3 b i l l i o n below the high for the year in September. New issues of nublic corporation debentures at ¥27 b i l l i o n were the same as in October. New issues of indust r i a l debentures at ¥27 b i l l i o n were up ¥2 b i l l i o n from the October level, and bank
debentures at ¥83 b i l l i o n were down ¥3 b i l l i o n .




OFFICIAL USE (TvLY

-b-

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Average y i e l d s in November, on l o c a l government s e c u r i t i e s , public
corporation bonds, and one-year bank debentures, remained unchanged from l e v e l s
e a r l i e r in t h e year at 7.35U, 7.053, and 6.22L per c e n t , r e s p e c t i v e l y . Yields
on f i v e - y e a r bank debentures were 7.283 per c e n t , down s l i g h t l y from October,
and 7.499 per cent on i n d u s t r i a l bonds, up s l i g h t l y from the previous month.
Stock market. In December, stock p r i c e s continued t h e i r general downtrend from t h e peak reached l a s t A p r i l , and the stock average h i t a low f o r the
year on December 18 of ¥1,201. This i s 26 per cent below the April 5 high for the
year. Stocks recovered s l i g h t l y during the t h i r d week of December but through
January 7 were s t i l l near the 1963 low. During the r e s t of January stocks rose
s t e a d i l y and on February 3 the average was.¥l,30£, up 9 per cent from the
December 18 low. (See Table 3 below).
On January 20, lb banks and Japan's f o u r l a r g e s t s e c u r i t i e s companies
formed a new e n t i t y e n t i t l e d - ^ he Japan J o i n t S e c u r i t i e s Company with the aim of
s t a b i l i z i n g stock p r i c e s through appropriate stock purchasing operations. The
^ new firm has an authorized c a p i t a l of $27.8 m i l l i o n , of which $6.9 million i s
p a i d - i n c a p i t a l . The company w i l l l i m i t i t s possession.of stocks in any one
company to 10 per cent of the t o t a l volume outstanding.
Table 3.

Japan;

November 25
December 2
9
16
23
28
1/

Dow Jones Average of 225 Stocks, F i r s t Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange
6
13
20
27

¥1,205
1,259
1,317
1,321

February 3

1,305

January

?i,2U5
1,257
1,259

1,216

1,216 , .
1,225 1 /

1963

High
Low

¥1,631
¥1,201

1961

High
Low

¥l,33li
¥1,2014

Last trading day of 1963.

Foreign t r a d e . The seasonally adjusted t r a d e d e f i c i t remained large in
December, but was down s u b s t a n t i a l l y from a peak in October. In December,
season a l l y - a d j u s t e d imports f e l l 1 per cent and exports rose U per c e n t . At a
seasonally adjusted annual r a t e , t h e t r a d e d e f i c i t in December was $1.5 b i l l i o n
compared to $552 m i l l i o n a year e a r l i e r . The t r a d e f i g u r e s (monthly, or monthly
averages, on a customs b a s i s ) in Table U below are based on seasonal adjustment
f a c t o r s computed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System#
Table L.

I

Imports
Exports

Trade Balance

1962

II

HI

Japan:

IV

l\9h
378

U68
Uoe

1^2
ii28

109

-116

- 60

-- 2h

- 99




Seasonally Adjusted Foreign Trade
(in m i l l i o n s of d o l l a r s )
1963

L8W

11
545
bh2

582
U62

6ii2
188

- 73

-103

-120

-I51i

I

III

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

IV

Oct.
661
188
-173

' Nov.

Dec.

637
178

628
h99

-159

-129

-5-

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

During calendar 1963, exports rose 11 per cent to $5.1+ b i l l i o n (as
measured on a customs b a s i s ) , and imports increased 20 per cent to $6.7 b i l l i o n .
The r e s u l t i n g trade d e f i c i t of $1.3 b i l l i o n was s u b s t a n t i a l l y higher than the
$720 b i l l i o n d e f i c i t in 1962.
Foreign reserves and c a p i t a l flows. I n t e r n a t i o n a l reserves f e l l $33
million in December and a f u r t h e r $23 million in January to $1,855 m i l l i o n . This
marks the t h i r d consecutive monthly declined from the 1963 high of $1,922 million
i n October, suggesting the beginning of a new general downtrend in reserves
following the gradual increase since January 1962.
The balance of payments, as measured on an exchange t r a n s a c t i o n s b a s i s ,
continued to r e g i s t e r a d e f i c i t on current amount in December, when i t was $56
m i l l i o n . Long-term c a p i t a l receipts at $9U million were high, but with long-term
payments of $38 million and net short-term payments of $U2 m i l l i o n , the surplus
on c a p i t a l account was only $lli m i l l i o n . Since reserves f e l l only $33 million,
While recorded net payments t o t a l e d Slj.2 million, errors andomissions account f o r
the $9 million d i f f e r e n c e , Results on an annual b a s i s are indicated in Table 5
below.
Table 5»

Japan:

Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments V
(in millions of U . S . dollars)

' 1963

1962

1961

+5,356
+ 883

+1,787
+ 813

+3,993
+ 78U

>6,239

+5,600
-li,51i6
-1,017

+1,777
-U,92U
- 937

-5,563
+ 38

--5,861
-1,085

Current transactions
. 1 . Receipts: commodity trade
2 . Receipts: services
Total
commodity trade
services

H O

3W

3 . Payments:
ii. Payments:

-6,813
- 57k

Total
5»

Current account balance

Capital t r a n s a c t i o n s
6. Long-term c a p i t a l r e c e i p t s
7. Long-term c a p i t a l payments
Net balance
80 Short-term capitals net balance
9. Capital account balance
10. Current and c a p i t a l a c c ' t . balance
11. Errors and omissions
12. Net overall balance
1/

+
.

+

•

+
+
+
-

+

750
282
L68
177
6L5
71
3h
37

+
-

+
+
. +
+

L58
197
#2
172
h3h ;•
172

-

116

+

3#

319
^ 1S6
+
163
+
610
T~ 773
312
26
338
-

Data include only foreign exchange t r a n s a c t i o n s and thus omit t r a n s a c t i o n s
taking place without an exchange settlement such as r e p a r a t i o n s , sales to
UN f o r c e s , consignment s a l e s , yen c r e d i t s and donations in kind. Numbers may
not t o t a l due. to rounding.




OFFICIAL USE ONLY

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

-6-

According to preliminary r e p o r t s , Japanese short-term l i a b i l i t i e s t o
U.S. banks increased §111 million in November to $1,983 m i l l i o n . (See Table 6
below). The r i s e r e f l e c t s l a r g e l y an increase in the outstanding l e v e l of
commercial acceptances.
Table 6.
Jan.
1959
1960

1961

1962
1963

168
362
875
1,601
1,697

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

Short-term Claims by U.S. Banks on Japan
( i n m i l l i o n s of U.S. d o l l a r s )
Jtejr

20U
2!i2
22k
175
L20
250
U88
372
952 1,069 1,159 1,196
X
1,685
J - L , |1,778
[ U
-L, II J 1,762
)1
1,775
1,691 1,751 1,876 1,896

1,869- 1,872

793 1,862

NOTE: Data f o r 1962 and 1963 have been r e c e n t l y revised and include $52 million reported
by banks i n i t i a l l y as of December 31, 1961.
a/
Preliminary.
^
With the i n t e r e s t e q u a l i z a t i o n tax s t i l l pending before the U.S. Congress
Japan continued to take steps to r a i s e f o r e i g n c a p i t a l outside of the United S t a t e s
On December 10, the Takeda Chemical Co: any s u c c e s s f u l l y f l o a t e d $15 million in 6
per cent, 20-year convertible debentures in the European market. Shortly l a t e r on
December 16 the Canon Camera Company issued $5, m i l l i o n in 6-l/lj. per c e n t , 15-year
convertible debentures in Europe. L a s t l y , the c i t y and p r e f e c t u r e of Osaka success
f u l l y f l o a t e d t h e i r t h i r d bond issue of %25 m i l l i o n (DM 100 m i l l i o n ) in Germany
on January 7. The 15-year issue c a r r i e d a 6 - 1 / 2 per cent r a t e of i n t e r e s t .
E a r l i e r issues-of $25 million each were f l o a t e d i n February of 1962 and March of
1963.
The Japanese
s t i l l intends to i s s u e
before April of I96I4..
government's plans f o r
next f i s c a l year which

Minister of Finance announced in December t h a t Japan
$52.5 million i n government bonds in the U.S. market
In a d d i t i o n , he said t h a t t h e r e had been no change in the
i s s u i n g $125 million in s e c u r i t i e s overseas in Japan's
begins April 1, 1961+.

Foreign exchange. The yen remained r e l a t i v e l y weak in t h e spot market
during the f i r s t t h r e e weeks of December, but strengthened subsequently through
January 13. The r a t e in t h e three-month forward market remained f a i r l y s t a b l e
during t h i s neriod„ The strengthening in the spot market caused the forward d i s count t o r i s e from 0.20 per cent on December 23 t o a peak of 1.03 per cent on
January 9. For a d d i t i o n a l d e t a i l s , see Table 7 below.




OFFICIAL USE ONLY

-7-

OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Table 7.

Japan:

Customer's T. T. Exchange Rates of Bank of Tokyo, in Tokyo

Yen-dollar
spot middle
rate

Three-month
forward middle
rate

Forward discount
i n per cent
C
per annum

Nov. 29

362.30

362.53

.25

Dec.

6
13
20
27
31

362.30
362.30
362.30
361.90
361.70

362.53
362.50
362.18
362.b5
362.1+8

.25
.22
.20
.61
.86

Jan. h
10
111

361.90
361.70
362.10

362.18
362.18
362.50

.61).
.86
.hh

Asia, Africa and Latin America Section.

II.
Chart
Chart
Chart
Chart
Chart
Chart
Chart
Chart

Nine Ctiarts on Financial Markets Abroad

- I n t e r e s t Arbitrage, United States/Canada
- I n t e r e s t Arbitrage, New York/London
- I n t e r e s t Arbitrage f o r German Commercial Banks
- I n t e r e s t Arbitrage, Frankfurt/London
- S h o r t - t e r m I n t e r e s t Rates
- Long-term Bond Yields
- I n d u s t r i a l Stock Indices
- Spot Exchange Rates - Major Currencies
Against U.S. Dollar
Chart 9 - 3-month Forward Exchange Rates




1
2
3
L
5
6
7
8

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

i
INTERNATIONAL
3-M.ONTH EURO
Wcdnesdoy figuret

MONEY
DOLLAR

MARKET YIELDS FOR
DEPOSIT

VS.

U.S.

U.S.

DOLLAR

CERTIFICATE

OF

INVESTORS
DEPOSIT
Per

cent

pe

YIELDS

EURO-DOLLAR DEPOSIT

U . S . C E R T I F I C A T E OF D E P O S I T

DIFFERENTIAL: EURO-DOLLA R OVER
U . S . C E R T I F I C A T E O F D E P O S IT

—

—

-

~ l

1

NEW

1

YORK

OFFER

1

1
RATES

1
ON

1

1

SELECTED

i
.
TREASURY

1

1

3-MONTH
1

BILL,

-Fully

1

1

!

i

r

i
Hedged

—

—

—

—

CANADA
1

1

INVESTMENTS

-

xy*

U.S.

v

U.K.

1
COMMERCIAL

U . K . HIRE P U R C H A S E
DEPOSIT
CANADIAN FINANCE C O M P A N Y




k

U.S.FINANCE COMPANY

1963

PAPER.'-

Fully

Hedged

—

INTEREST A R B I T R A G E ,
Thursday

r

1

3-MONTH

UNITED STATES /

CANADA
Per ceht per <

figu

1

r

TREASURY

BILL R A T E S

RATE D I F F E R E N T I A L A N D

FORWARD

CANADIAN

DOLLAR

IN F A V O t O f C A N A D A +

FORWARD BATI
Discount

I

LlLLkd
L A
: L__
J —
I :
I
DIFFERENTIAL WITH F O R W A R D

I
RATE

. .. 1
L — I
F
EXCHANGE COVER

NET I N C E N T I V E IN F A V O B OF C A N A D A

I I I 1 I I 1 I I
M

.

J-

S




D

I I I I II
M

„ J

S

D

+

i u i iI i i [ i i I i i I i i I i i
i
s
o
*
i
s
e"

':
1NT1R1ST

ARBITRAGE,

NEW

Y O R K / L O N D O N

Friday flgui
3-MONTH

TREASURY

—

RATE

BILL

RATES

LONDON "

DIFFERENTIAL

AND

3-MONTH

FORWARD

STERLING

~ S M « » I * / A > 0 1 Of 10ND0N

V-x

RATE

DIFFERENTIAL

WITH

FORWARD

L-

1961




;

EXCHANGE

COVER

1

1964

v°

\\
INTEREST A R B I T R A G E FOR G E R M A N

COMMERCIAL B A N K S

Friday lig
3-MONTH
EURO

TREASURY

DOLLAR

BILLS, I N T E R B A N K

DETQSTT

RATES

LENDING
1

RATE A N D

T

GERMAN TREASURY BWKS

RATE D I F F E R E N T I A L A N D

FORWARD

DEUTSCHE

MARK

F O R W A R D BATE D I S C O U N T ( - )

I N T E R B A N K L O A N RATE

RATE DIFFERENTIAL WITH
" NET I N C E N T I V E : !




FORWARD

I

EXCHANGE

COVER |

IN F A V O R OF F R A N K F U R T ( + )

INTERBANK LOAN R A T E J

^

\

/

VVNI —

1963

1964

SHORT-TERM

INTEREST

RATES *

-

f'v
!

h

!

C NA0A

*

V

i
0- $.

v

I

iijMyvv X A V ^ f

swm

1111 1 M 1 i i ii i i i i i i i l 1 I l 1 1 l 1 1i II
iiiiiiiiii 1 1 I1 1 1 1 1
I960

1961

3- month treoiury bill rolet I or oil countries encepl Jopon
j and Switzerland (3 month depoiit role).
"j",3-month role lor U 5 dollar deposit! in London




1962

1963

(Averoge role on bonk loom ond d i n o u n l i l '

1964

LONG-TERM BOND




YIELDS

w
INDUSTRIAL
' ''

STOCK

INDICES

^9sa=ioo ;
• R o t l o ital* f

G
, ERMANY

200

ISO :

SO
i. Swiii Bank Corporation Industrial itock ir
**Jopan: index of 2 2 5 induilrial and other ilpckt traded on the Tokyo exchange




SPOT

EXCHANGE

RATES - M A J O R

CURRENCIES AGAINST

U.S.

DOLLAR

FRENCH FRANC

.DUTCH GUILDER




1964

P . r C

3-MONTH
AGAINST

FORWARD
U.S.

EXCHANGE

BATE

DOLLARS

P.r c m

per

GERMAN MARK

AGAINST

POUND

STERLING

- LONDON
1
PRE M I U M +

-

-

Mv,

SWISS t BANC
<

^

A

4

-

5 5 / 1

-

-

1

1

AGAINST

1

1

POUND

i

i

1 1

STERLING




f

1

1

D IS CC>UNT —
1 1 1 1

- LONDON

• BLVIftlV fMHV

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1