BOJ mulls expanding monetary easing to help virus-hit firms

The Bank of Japan is considering expanding its monetary easing policy by further raising its target for corporate bond and commercial paper purchases in a bid to support companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic, sources close to the matter said Thursday.It will discuss the move at next Monday's policy meeting, having decided at the previous meeting in March to expand the purchase target for such corporate debt by 2 trillion yen ($19 billion) until the end of September.The BOJ is hoping to help firms secure funds more easily as concerns deepen over the economic fallout from the pneumonia-ca…READ FULL ARTICLE