Is Japan’s private sector ready to releverage?

A key aim of the BoJ’s QQE programme is to lower real interest rates in a bid to encourage firms and households to borrow and spend more and thereby eliminate the spare capacity that underpins deflation. Unfortunately, credit growth has already started to moderate, and a range of indicators suggest it will slow further in the coming months. What's more, there are structural impediments to stronger loan demand. The upshot is that the central bank still has more work to do.