In 2001, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) was struggling to find ways to help the economy escape recession. Having already reduced the target short-term interest rate to very close to zero, it turned to open market operations – specifically, purchasing long-term government bonds and increasing bank reserves held at the BOJ – in order to increase the money supply and reduce long-term interest rates.
2001年，日本银行忙于寻找帮助经济摆脱衰退之道。短期利率已经降低到十分接近于零的水平，因此日本银行开始进行公开市场操作——具体而言，即买入长期政府债券和增加日本银行持有的银行准备金——以期增加货币供给、降低长期利率。