Japan Finance Minister: up to BOJ to decide on ETF purchases

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday the central bank's purchases of exchange-traded funds are part of its monetary stimulus and it was up to the bank to decide on how to dispose of such assets.

"I don't think the BOJ's ETF purchases are having negative influence on individuals' asset formation," Suzuki told reporters.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Himani Sarkar)