(Recasts with more Kamezaki comments)
By Izumi Nakagawa
TAKAMATSU, Japan, Dec 25 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan should consider ways to influence longer-term interest rates and corporate debt products if more easing steps are needed, policy board member Hidetoshi Kamezaki said on Thursday.
In one of the boldest comments yet by a BOJ board member on unorthodox policy measures, Kamezaki also said the bank should study to what extent it can take on risk assets such as corporate bonds and shares.
"When we think about further easing steps, we will be dealing with longer-term interest rates and corporate finance," he told a news conference.
Kamezaki's comments came less than a week after the BOJ cut interest rates to 0.10 percent and adopted measures such as increasing its outright buying of Japanese government bonds and temporarily purchasing commercial paper outright.
"What the BOJ might consider could include buying shares and corporate bonds. Adding shares to collateral could also be an option," said Koji Ochiai, senior market strategist at Mizuho Investors Securities.
Tokyo shares were up in holiday-thinned trade on Thursday, while the dollar was holding steady against the yen.
"Taking on credit risk is extremely abnormal... But we need abnormal steps at an abnormal time. "The BOJ will do its best to ensure financial market stability by taking all possible policy steps," he also said, in a speech to business leaders in Takamatsu, western Japan.
Unlike the U.S. Federal Reserve, which has taken a raft of unorthodox measures and more than doubled its balance sheet in just a few months, the BOJ has been cautious about transcending its traditional role as provider of liquidity.
BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa has repeatedly said that taking on credit risks is basically within the realm of government policy.
"There seems to be no clear conclusion within the BOJ about to what extent it should take on risks," said Naomi Hasegawa, a senior strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
GETTING WORSE
Kamezaki also said he expected the world economy to stagnate more in months to come, adding that the central bank would use all possible means to ensure market stability.
The former trading house executive said he was very concerned about the outlook for exports, echoing the widespread view that exports, Japan's main growth engine, will suffer heavily as the global economy faces its greatest upheaval in many decades.
"Dark clouds are spreading all over the world. The U.S. and European economies will continue to worsen and emerging economies will continue to slow," Kamezaki said.
Data this week showed Japan's exports plunged a record 26.7 percent in November from the same month a year earlier, hit by a strong yen and sagging demand for its electronics, cars and other goods in key U.S. and Asian markets, including China.
The export-oriented Japanese economy, which began contracting in the April-June quarter, is expected to shrink at least until the January-March quarter.
Data published on Thursday showed that housing starts were flat in November compared with the same month last year, far below a median forecast for an 8.0 percent rise.
Kamezaki also said domestic consumption was likely to weaken as job markets are deteriorating.
The government has compiled 12 billion yen of fiscal spending to stimulate the economy, although much of the spending will likely have to wait at least a few months before it gets endorsed in a split parliament. (Additional reporting by Yuzo Saeki; Writing by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Chris Gallagher)