Japanese financial authorities should consider conducting coordinated currency intervention with other countries to support the yen, the head of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, Bloomberg News reported. Small and mid-sized Japanese companies are suffering from the rising costs of imported materials as the yen trades near a 34-year low against the dollar, TCCI Chairman Ken Kobayashi said Wednesday in a press conference, Kyodo News reported. Kobayashi’s comments came a day after Takeshi Niinami, president of Suntory Holdings Ltd.
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The Bank of Japan would consider a policy response if the yen’s weakness causes inflation to rise sharply higher, Gov. Kazuo Ueda said on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. “If there is a risk that a virtuous cycle of wages and prices strengthens more than expected and underlying inflation rises above 2%, we need to consider changing monetary policy,” Ueda said in a parliamentary committee meeting, when asked by an opposition lawmaker whether the bank would act against the yen’s fall. The yen is trading around 151.75 to the dollar on Wednesday, staying near its 34-year low.
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The number of corporate bankruptcies with liabilities of at least ¥10 million in fiscal 2023 rose 31.5% from the previous year to 9,053, topping 9,000 for the first time in nine years, a survey by Tokyo Shoko Research showed on Monday, the Japan Times reported. In the year through March, bankruptcies mainly rose among small and midsize companies as they struggled to raise prices to reflect higher material and other costs. Labor shortages were also behind the rise in bankruptcies.
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Japan must shift its policy focus away from crisis-mode stimulus towards achieving private sector-driven economic growth, a government panel said on Tuesday in the wake of the central bank's decision to end eight years of negative interest rates, Reuters reported. In a proposal to the government's top economic council, the panel urged policy changes in the face of rising domestic prices and interest rates, as well as wage growth at a 30-year high as companies face job shortages.
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Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Monday there were some speculative moves in the currency market that did not reflect economic fundamentals, repeating his warning against excessive yen declines, Reuters reported. "We will watch currency market developments with a strong sense of urgency, and will respond appropriately against excessive moves without ruling out any options," Suzuki told parliament.
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Japan's factory activity in March contracted for the 10th consecutive month though the downturn was the least pronounced in four months, helped by softer contractions in output and orders, a private-sector survey showed on Monday, Reuters reported. The final au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was at 48.2 in March, the highest level since November. That matched the flash reading and was better than February's 47.2, which marked the fastest pace of contraction in over 3-1/2 years.
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Japan's Nikkei share average ended higher on Friday, driven by chip-related heavyweights, and posted a record fiscal-year gain in terms of points amid heavy foreign buying, Reuters reported. The index hit successive record highs this month, after breaking levels on Feb. 22 last seen in 1989 during the country's bubble economy. The rally was supported by foreign buying on a weaker yen and expectation that the Bank of Japan will stick with loose monetary policy. The index rallied 12,328 points in the fiscal year ending on Friday, marking its biggest gain on an absolute basis.
In the hours after the yen hit a 34-year low on Wednesday, Japanese officials put currency traders on notice: Keep this up, and we’ll act forcefully in the market to stem the slide, Bloomberg reported. The message was heeded, at least initially. After coming within a whisker of touching 152 per dollar — a level that a slew of market observers said would likely prompt authorities to intervene directly — the yen reversed course on warnings from Japan’s finance minister and then a news report that the nation’s economic authorities were gathering for an unscheduled meeting.
The Bank of Japan on Friday highlighted the need to enhance its research and analytical capabilities in the first medium-term strategic plan compiled under academic-turned governor Kazuo Ueda, who took office in April last year, Reuters reported. “The Bank will enhance its capabilities in policy-making, research and analysis in fulfilling its mission of achieving price and financial stability,” the BOJ said, outlining key principles of its business operations from fiscal 2024 through 2028.
Japan’s consumer inflation picked up in February, adding to speculation that the Bank of Japan may raise interest rates again later this year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Overall consumer prices rose 2.8% from a year earlier in February, compared with the 2.2% increase in January, government data showed Friday. Food prices continued to rise, while the effects of the government’s support for energy bills tapered off.
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