Skip to main content

Japan's Flow of Funds Accounts: Main Characteristics and Measures for Enhancement

April 23, 2012
Shuji Kobayakawa and Ryoichi Okuma
Research and Statistics Department

Japan's Flow of Funds Accounts Statistics (J-FFA) is a comprehensive record of developments in financial assets and liabilities in major economic sectors. The main features of the J-FFA can be summarized as follows. First, the J-FFA shows both financial transactions and the corresponding balances outstanding of financial assets and liabilities. Second, as it is compiled in accordance with international standards, the J-FFA makes it possible to identify key features of financial activities in Japan by comparing them with those in other countries. Third, given that the J-FFA is divided into a large number of sub-categories for both transaction items and economic sectors, it can meet a variety of analytical needs of statistics users. In recent years, the Bank of Japan has been improving and enhancing the J-FFA. The amounts outstanding of securitized products have been released since December 2011, and "from-whom-to-whom" time-series data of domestic debt securities have been made available to the public since March 2012. The aim of these initiatives is to respond to the international awareness that existing data do not capture risks inherent in financial systems around the world; thus, it was deemed necessary to fill "data-gaps." The Bank of Japan aims to make further efforts to increase the usefulness of the J-FFA to a wide range of statistics users.

Notice

The Bank of Japan Review is published by the Bank of Japan to explain recent economic and financial topics for a wide range of readers. This report, 2012-E-4, is a translation of the original Japanese version, 2012-J-5, published in March 2012. The views expressed in the Review are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Bank of Japan.

If you have comments or questions, please contact Shuji Kobayakawa, Research and Statistics Department (E-mail: shuuji.kobayakawa@boj.or.jp).