Tokyo, Dec 20 : Assets held by Japanese households reached a record at 1,999.8 trillion yen ($17 trillion) at the end of September, the highest since comparable data became available in 2005, official data revealed on Monday. According to the data by Bank of Japan (BOJ), accounting for 53.6 per cent of the overall balance, the holding of cash and deposits increased 3.7 per cent to 1,072 trillion yen, as people were refrained from spending due to the Covi-19 pandemic, reports Xinhua news agency. Many areas of Japan including Tokyo and Osaka were under a months-long Covid-19 state of emergency until the end of September, which required people to avoid nonessential outings and restaurants and bars to close earlier. Assets held in equities surged 28.6 per cent to 218 trillion yen due to increasing stock prices on economic recovery hopes. Cash and deposits held by non-financial firms increased 4.4 per cent to 321 trillion yen, accounting for 25.6 per cent of the total assets, worth 1,250 trillion yen, up 8.3 per cent. Loans extended by financial institutions to non-financial firms were down 0.1 per cent to 351 trillion yen. The BOJ's holding of Japanese government bonds fell 0.7 per cent to 538 trillion yen, accounting for 44.1 per cent of the outstanding debt issued by the state, as some of them were redeemed at maturity, according to a quarterly report. The Japanese central bank has implemented a massive asset-buying program to keep borrowing costs low for companies and consumers. In addition, overseas investors increased their holdings of Japanese government debt by 8.1 per cent to 164 trillion yen, accounting for 13.4 per cent of the total debt. /IANS