“It’s been a perfect storm for long-dated JGBs,” said Koutny, who helps oversee Vanguard’s US$500 billion (RM2.03 trillion) of actively-managed fixed income assets. JGBs clawed back some of those losses in volatile trading on Wednesday, pushing the 30-year yield 14bps lower to 3.74%. What has riled investors is Takaichi’s promise to temporarily lower sales tax on food in order to strengthen her slim majority in the country’s Lower House. With Japan relying on more than 20% of its revenue from consumption tax, Koutny said, “any tinkering around there has a meaningful impact for the fiscal position of the government”. For Vanguard’s Koutny, a shift to more prudent fiscal spending plans or a hawkish turn by the BOJ to commit to a rate hike in March or April “would be key for us to resume any buying”.

Source: The Edge Markets January 21, 2026 11:58 UTC