TOKYO -- After two years of the Bank of Japan guiding key interest rates into negative territory, lenders here have seen loan rates slide toward zero, pushing financial institutions to reassess their business models.
Japanese banks had 471 trillion yen ($4.42 trillion) in loans outstanding at the end of 2017, up 6% from two years earlier. The BOJ imposed negative rates in February 2016 on certain deposits held at the central bank, aiming to spur lending and encourage businesses to borrow more money for expansion and investment.
