Economy, Japan | featured news

The dollar has risen above 100 yen for the first time in more than four years as currency traders persist in selling the Japanese currency in reaction to Tokyo's aggressive credit-easing moves.

Japan is making a sweeping shift in its monetary policy, aiming to spur inflation and get the world's third-largest economy out of a long, debilitating slump. Bowing to demands from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for more aggressive monetary easing, the Bank of Japan announced Thursday a policy overhaul intended to double the money supply and achieve a 2 percent inflation target at the "earliest possible time, with a time horizon of about two years."

Japan's stock market is experiencing a rally unmatched since bulls ruled in the 1980s, as a weak yen and expectations of much bolder steps by the central bank draws investors into the long-dormant market.

A closely watched survey by Japan's central bank has found big manufacturers have more confidence in the world's third-largest economy than they did three months ago.

Japan says it will forgive about 300 billion yen ($3.7 billion) of Myanmar's debt as a way to support the country's democratic and economic reforms.

The Obama administration won a reprieve this week from some particularly scary economic news that had been projected to occur around around Halloween. The news: The ever-escalating national debt will hit and then surpass the size of the entire U.S. economy -- an ignominious distinction previously achieved by the likes of Japan, Italy and Greece.

The outlook for the world's major economies is continuing to darken according to the latest data from the OECD published on Monday, which showed sharp falls in leading indicators for all countries except Japan.

The European Union will call on China this week to boost domestic demand and on the United States and Japan to tackle their public deficits as part of global efforts to rebalance growth, an EU document showed.

The head of the World Bank said Wednesday the world had entered a new economic danger zone and that Europe, Japan and the United States all need to make hard decisions to avoid dragging down the global economy.

British and Japanese officials warned Sunday of disastrous consequences for the global economy if last-minute talks among lawmakers in Washington failed to agree on raising the U.S. borrowing limit and averting a debt default.