Since the mid-1990s, the Bank of Japan has maintained very low interest rates, enabling investors to borrow yen to fund riskier activities elsewhere, particularly in the US and emerging markets....

Since the mid-1990s, the Bank of Japan has maintained very low interest rates, enabling investors to borrow yen to fund riskier activities elsewhere, particularly in the US and emerging markets. Recently, however, the US dollar became the world’s funding currency in light of the extremely low interest rates in the United States.