TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Financial assets held by Japanese households totaled 2,212 trillion yen (about 15.4 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of June, hitting another record high on higher share prices, central bank data showed Thursday.
The figure represents a 4.6 percent rise from a year earlier and exceeded the previous record of 2,186 trillion yen logged in March, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said.
Of the total, cash and deposits rose 0.8 percent to 1,127 trillion yen, still accounting for about half of overall household assets, data showed.
Holdings of stocks increased 15.6 percent to a record 301 trillion yen, lifted by the rising trend in the stock market where the yen's weakness has boosted exporter shares.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei Stock Average rallied about 18 percent in the first half of the year before hitting an all-time closing high of 42,224.02 on July 11.
The data also showed that investment trusts climbed 27.1 percent to a record 128 trillion yen on the revamped tax exemption program for small investments, known as NISA and modeled on the Individual Savings Account in Britain.
The Japanese government has been encouraging individual to save money with tax-exempt benefits from small investments in the program. ■