BoJ current-account balances fall to ¥411.8 trillion in September; regional banks drop most

Serguey Asael Shinder16 October 2026, 14:322 min read

The Bank of Japan published its current account balances by sector for September 2026 on 16 October. The figures are preliminary, averages over the reserve maintenance period that runs from the 16th of one month to the 15th of the next, and stated in units of ¥100 million.

The total keeps falling. Average current-account balances at the BoJ came to about ¥411.8 trillion in the September period, down from ¥419.2 trillion in August and ¥429.8 trillion in July. That is a decline of about ¥7.4 trillion on the month and roughly ¥18 trillion over two months. Balances that receive positive interest under the complementary deposit facility followed the same path: about ¥395.9 trillion, after ¥403.5 trillion in August and ¥414.2 trillion in July.

By sector — average balances. For institutions subject to reserve requirements, the table shows:

• City banks: ¥149.7 trillion of reserve balances, up from ¥148.9 trillion in August (excess reserves ¥143.8 trillion);
• Regional banks: ¥44.6 trillion, down from ¥48.1 trillion — excess reserves fell from ¥45.1 trillion to ¥41.5 trillion, the largest move among the groups;
• Regional banks II: ¥6.8 trillion, down from ¥7.7 trillion;
• Foreign banks: ¥63.4 trillion, up from ¥61.0 trillion, though below July's ¥65.5 trillion;
• Trust banks: ¥31.9 trillion, after ¥30.9 trillion;
• Other institutions subject to the reserve requirement: ¥84.5 trillion, down from ¥90.6 trillion.

Required reserves for all of these institutions together barely changed, at about ¥13.4 trillion, so almost all of the movement is in excess reserves, which fell to about ¥367.4 trillion from ¥373.8 trillion. Current-account balances of institutions outside the reserve system, including securities companies, came to ¥31.0 trillion, of which securities companies held ¥13.0 trillion.

Month-end snapshot. At the end of September the total stood at about ¥416.6 trillion, against ¥424.4 trillion at the end of August and ¥438.1 trillion at the end of July. City banks held ¥155.3 trillion at month-end, up from ¥153.1 trillion; regional banks ¥44.2 trillion, down from ¥47.1 trillion.

What the release does not say. The BoJ's table reports the balances only; it gives no explanation for the movements, and the figures are rounded to the nearest ¥1 billion and marked preliminary for August and September.

Source: Bank of Japan, "BOJ Current Account Balances by Sector (September 2026)" — http://www.boj.or.jp/en/statistics/boj/other/cabs/cabs.xlsx