Personal debt is overwhelming an increasing number of Japanese as higher interest rates and the rising cost of living bite, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer loans are rising at the highest rate in 16 years. Household borrowing exceeded incomes for the first time last year. And government officials are worried that many people accustomed to rock-bottom rates will struggle with their mounting loans. While Japan is by no means alone in confronting a debt problem, salaries are the lowest of Group-of-Seven countries, and the central bank is raising borrowing costs while its peers cut them.

Honda and Nissan said that they planned to merge in 2026, a move Honda’s chief executive said wasn’t a rescue of troubled Nissan but a recognition that developing new technologies was too hard to do alone, the Wall Street Journal reported. The companies said that they intended to create an automaker that, combined with Nissan partner Mitsubishi Motors, would be the third-largest carmaker in the world, after Toyota and Volkswagen, with more than eight million vehicles sold annually.

Japan’s consumer inflation sped up in November, fanning rate-hike hopes, but price growth may not be strong enough yet to rush an immediate move, especially as the central bank remains wary about uncertainties at home and abroad, the Wall Street Journal reported. Overall consumer prices rose 2.9% in November from a year earlier, compared with the 2.3% growth seen in October, government data showed Friday. ​Energy prices rose 6.0% due to the fading effects of government subsidies for electricity and gas, compared with a 2.3% increase in October.

A Tokushima-based startup that produced edible crickets has suspended operations and filed for bankruptcy after facing criticism over the use of its product in school lunches, it has been learned, the Japan News reported. Gryllus Inc. filed for bankruptcy at the Tokushima District Court on Nov. 7 with debts of about ¥153 million. The company had suffered poor performance after receiving criticism online due to the public’s resistance to the idea of eating insects.

Japan’s biggest bank apologized Monday for the alleged theft by an employee of more than 1 billion yen ($6.6 million) from customers’ safe deposit boxes, the Associated Press reported. The bank, formally known as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., said Monday that it was investigating and that verified thefts from about 20 of the 60 clients thought to have been affected amounted to 300 million yen (nearly $2 million). Compensation was being worked out, it said.

Japan's bankruptcy filings this year are set to surpass 10,000 and hit the highest since 2013, private-sector data by Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR) showed on Monday, ahead of a closely watched central bank meeting next week, Reuters reported. In November, 841 Japanese companies went bankrupt, bringing the January-November tally to 9,164, already exceeding last year's total, data from the credit research agency showed. The 2024 bankruptcy figure will likely exceed 10,000 for the first time since 2013, when 10,855 firms went bankrupt. The Bank of Japan holds a rate review on Dec.

The Japanese economy grew more quickly than initially estimated in the July-September quarter, fueling expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates soon and lending further strength to the yen, the Wall Street Journal reported. Real gross domestic product expanded 1.2% on an annualized basis in the quarter, compared with 0.9% growth in the preliminary estimates released in mid-November. The Japanese economy grew 0.3% from the previous quarter, revised government data showed on Monday.

Japan could use a wake-up call over its mountain of debt through credit rating firms warning of the potential for cuts to sovereign bond ratings, according to a government advisor, Bloomberg News reported. “Recent fiscal policy has turned into a popularity contest,” said Mana Nakazora, a credit analyst on an economic panel advising Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. “I’d rather that credit rating firms say that they’ll cut ratings” to warn authorities of risk, she said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday.

Japan’s cabinet on Friday approved an economic stimulus package worth more than $140 billion, in Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s latest push to tackle inflation and boost growth after his coalition suffered a bruising electoral defeat last month, the Wall Street Journal reported. The package totaling 21.9 trillion yen, equivalent to $141.71 billion, is aimed at easing rising living costs and promoting business innovation and investment.