The latest financial reports from Bandai Namco Studios and Bandai Namco Online turned out to be a complete disaster, Softonic reported. During the last fiscal year, which ended in March 2024, Bandai Namco Studios recorded a loss of 3,983 million yen, which is about 23 million euros. However, the worst part was taken by Bandai Namco Online, which has declared bankruptcy. Bandai Namco Studios is one of the branches of Bandai Namco Entertainment, which is responsible for developing video games for PC, consoles, mobile devices, and more.
Japan
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Global policymakers aren’t about to let the Federal Reserve’s delay in cutting interest rates distract them too much from their own easing efforts, Bloomberg reported. Among the 23 of the world’s top central banks featured in Bloomberg’s quarterly guide, only the Bank of Japan won’t end up lowering borrowing costs within the next 18 months. Most are already set to do so this year. In total, 155 basis points will be removed from an aggregate benchmark global rate compiled by Bloomberg Economics by the end of 2025.
The price Japanese companies charge each other for services rose 2.5% in May from a year earlier, data showed on Tuesday, a sign prospects of steady wage increases are prompting more companies to pass on higher labour costs, Reuters reported. The year-on-year increase, however, slowed from the previous month's 2.7% gain, Bank of Japan (BOJ) data showed.
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Bank of Japan board members discussed the case for an interest rate hike as upside risks to inflation become “more noticeable,” according to a summary of opinions from the June policy meeting, Bloomberg News reported. “It is necessary for the bank to continue to closely monitor relevant data in preparation for the next monetary policy meeting,” one of nine board members said, according to the summary released Monday in Tokyo.
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Japan’s consumer inflation picked up in May, adding to market expectations for interest rate increases from the Bank of Japan, the Wall Street Journal reported. Overall consumer prices in May rose 2.8% compared with the same period a year earlier, due mainly to higher electricity bills, compared with the 2.5% increase in April, government data showed Friday. Many analysts and traders expect the Japanese central bank to raise its interest-rate target this year, with inflation staying above the bank’s 2% target for more than two years.
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Japan's exports surged 13.5% in May, faster than expected growth helped by a weak yen and strong demand in the U.S. and Asia, the Associated Press reported. Finance Ministry data reported Wednesday showed that the trade deficit totaled 1.22 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), down nearly 12% from 1.38 trillion yen a year earlier. Imports grew 9.5%, year-on-year, to nearly 9.5 trillion yen ($60 billion). Exports totaled 8.3 trillion yen ($53 billion) and grew at the fastest since November 2022.
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The Bank of Japan said it would reduce government bond purchases in a signal of monetary tightening, as it left its policy interest rate unchanged, the Wall Street Journal reported. Monetary tightening in general should support the yen, but the Japanese currency instead weakened Friday because the central bank didn’t offer specifics on its bond plans. The yen was trading at around 158 to the dollar after the move, compared with around 157 before. Later Friday the yen recovered some of the lost ground.
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The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan surged 42.9% from a year earlier to 1,009 in May, credit research firm Tokyo Shoko Research said on Monday, the Japan Times reported. The monthly number exceeded 1,000 for the first time since July 2013, when it reflected the impact of the end of funding support measures for small businesses introduced after the 2008 global financial crisis. The latest result came as many companies struggle with rising prices, as well as labor shortages mainly in the service sector.
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Japan's government will highlight the need to work closely with the central bank and guide policy "flexibly" in the wake of soft consumption and uncertainty over the inflation outlook, a draft of its annual economic blueprint seen by Reuters showed. "Monetary policy has entered a new stage," which required the government and the Bank of Japan to "continue working closely and guide policy flexibly in accordance to economic and price developments," according to the draft.
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Bank of Japan policy board member Toyoaki Nakamura said Thursday that he is still not fully confident that wages and inflation will keep growing, adding that it is appropriate for the bank to maintain its current monetary policy for the time being, the Wall Street Journal reported. “I am not confident about the sustainability of wage increases,” Nakamura said in a speech to business leaders in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido.
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