By Miho Uranaka
(Reuters) -Japan’s finance ministry plans to allow the Government Pension Investment Fund to participate directly in Japanese government bond auctions, a step that would help the world’s largest pension fund to smoothly rebalance its portfolio.
The ministry said on Wednesday it plans to amend a government ordinance that defines participants in JGB auctions after inviting public comments.
Once the ordinance is amended, the GPIF would join the network that handles JGB settlements with the Bank of Japan.
This would make it easier for the pension investment fund to rebalance its portfolio. GPIF currently bids in auctions through brokerage firms, sometimes facing difficulty in buying enough amounts.
One of the world’s largest pension funds, GPIF had total assets worth 252.9 trillion yen ($1.63 trillion) as of November last year, investing roughly a quarter of its assets each in domestic and overseas stocks and bonds.
($1 = 155.3200 yen)
(Reporting by Pretish M J in Bengaluru, Miho Uranaka and Makiko Yamazaki in Tokyo; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Kim Coghill)
