The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will more than double its annual book-value exchange-traded fund (ETF) disposal pace to ¥860 billion from January 2027, shortening its estimated sell-down period to about 43 years.
The new annual pace compares with about ¥330 billion under the previous plan. The BOJ estimates the amount would equal about 0.1% of stock-market trading value, up from about 0.05%. At market value, the new pace is estimated at about ¥2.46 trillion a year, using the market-to-book ratio of ETFs the BOJ sold since January 2026.
The BOJ’s estimate of about 43 years is based on its ETF holdings at the end of September 2026 and the annual sales amount on a book-value basis. Using the same calculation, the previous pace would have taken about 112 years to complete sales.
In its October 2026 reference document, the BOJ reported that ETF sales had proceeded smoothly since January 2026 without a major market impact. It separately noted that stock-market trading value had been expanding. The document does not identify the expanding trading value as the reason for the change in sales pace.
The BOJ plans to distribute sales across ETFs in proportion to each fund’s share of its holdings and stagger the transactions. The bank said it would consider financial-market conditions when seeking adequate prices and try to limit losses and destabilizing effects on markets as much as possible. Those disposal principles cover the BOJ’s holdings of both ETFs and Japanese real estate investment trusts (J-REITs).
In response to changes in financial-market conditions, the BOJ may temporarily adjust or suspend sales within the range of the annual sales pace. The document says this flexibility remains part of the policy.
