“Is there anything good that the government recommends?” Yuko Ogura’s “rejection of NISA” comment attracts attention as stock prices plummet, and she is back as a “top mamatare.

Stock prices are plummeting all over the world.

On August 2, the closing price of the Nikkei Stock Average plummeted 2,216 yen to 35,909 yen.

This was the second largest drop on a closing basis since Black Monday, following October 20, 1987 (down 3,836 yen). The U.S. IT-related Nasdaq and S&P 500 are also in a downtrend.

On January 1 of this year, the government revised the NISA system, expanding the tax exemption limit and period for profits. The Japanese people, who had been suffering from the weak yen and high prices, rushed to invest, especially in U.S. stocks, which were booming and inflation was overheating, and in all-country stocks, which invest in stocks all over the world. However, the more they bought foreign stocks, the more they bought in dollars, which spurred the yen to weaken.

However, when the BOJ decided at its monetary policy meeting on July 31 to raise its policy rate by an additional 0.25% or so, the yen appreciated rapidly, rising to the ¥146 per dollar level (as of August 3).

Raising interest rates makes it harder for companies to raise funds and invest in their businesses. However, there is a large gap with the U.S. policy rate, and Japan probably had no choice but to raise interest rates in order to halt the yen’s depreciation.

Since Japan’s major corporations make a large profit from exporting their products, their business performance will deteriorate if the yen appreciates. Investors, not wanting to be affected, will sell their stocks, which will naturally lead to a decline in stock prices. This would reduce tax revenues for the government. On the other hand, from the perspective of the general public, a strong yen has its advantages, such as cheaper imports and cheaper overseas travel,” said an economics reporter for a national newspaper.

The new NISA, which the government has been pushing with great fanfare, is being met with screams, especially from “novice investors” who have only just begun using it, due to the recent stock market plunge. Some of them took a screenshot of their brokerage firm’s profit/loss screen and reported a “loss of 20 million yen,” which sounded like a tragic story.