Japan mulls expanding gov't bonds for individuals

TOKYO - Japan's Finance Ministry is considering expanding its lineup of government bonds available to individual investors, with experts pushing for new products such as inflation-linked bonds amid rising prices, its officials say.

Bond purchases by individual investors have been soaring as the Bank of Japan moves to raise interest rates. The ministry is also eager to diversify buyers of its debt given that the BOJ is reducing bond purchases as part of its monetary normalization following a decade of unorthodox easing.