Japan

Japan's Skymark Airlines Inc is looking for a "business sponsor" to help it emerge from bankruptcy, a move that could eventually give control of the fiercely independent budget carrier to its rivals. Japan's biggest budget airline, which sought protection from creditors last week, said a sponsor could help it cut costs and increase revenue, according to a Jan. 28 court filing seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Japan's leading independent budget airline Skymark Airlines Inc filed for protection from creditors late on Wednesday, blaming a weak yen and a dispute with Airbus Group for its financial straits, Reuters reported. The low-cost carrier had liabilities of 71.09 billion yen ($603.6 million) as of its bankruptcy filing with the Tokyo District Court, it said in a statement via the Tokyo Stock Exchange after an emergency board meeting. Chief Executive Officer Shinichi Nishikubo resigned and was replaced by board member Masakazu Arimori, said the company, which will delist on March 1.

Governor Haruhiko Kuroda says the Bank of Japan may need to get creative in any further monetary stimulus. Among options analysts highlight: regional-government bonds, a type of security that could aid public support. Kuroda, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television Friday in Davos, Switzerland, said “there are many options and I don’t think it’s constructive to say this or that could be done.” He reiterated that if inflation expectations are “seriously” affected by disinflation, policy can be changed.

Japanese corporate bankruptcies fell in 2014 to the lowest level since the final year of Japan’s asset bubble, as a government request for banks to alter loan conditions for smaller firms helped companies stay afloat, Bloomberb News reported. Business failures slid 10.4 percent in 2014 from a year earlier to 9,731 cases, the fewest since 1990, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said in Tokyo today. There were no bankruptcies among listed firms last year for the first time in 24 years.

Japan’s government approved on Saturday stimulus spending worth $29 billion aimed at helping the country’s lagging regions and households through steps like subsidies and merchandise vouchers, but analysts are skeptical about how much the government can spur growth, the International New York Times reported. The package, worth 3.5 trillion yen (about $29 billion) was unveiled two weeks after a huge election victory by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition gave him a fresh mandate to push through his stimulus policies, known as Abenomics.

Japan’s recession was deeper than initially estimated as company investment unexpectedly shrank, a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he campaigns for re-election on his economic credentials, Bloomberg News reported. The economy shrank an annualized 1.9 percent in the July-to- September period from the previous quarter, weaker than the 1.6 percent contraction reported in preliminary data. The result was also below every forecast in a Bloomberg News survey that showed a median 0.5 percent decrease.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Japan’s credit rating today, highlighting the challenges facing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he tries to stoke inflation and growth, the Wall Street Journal reported today. In explaining its move, Moody’s cited heightened uncertainty over Japan’s ability to cut its fiscal deficit after Abe decided last month to delay an increase in the national sales tax scheduled to take effect next year.

Japan is pushing to rescue its floundering economy with a third big economic stimulus, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepared to face snap elections amid rising clamor over the wisdom of his “Abenomics” reforms. A surprise announcement early Monday that the economy contracted for a second straight quarter makes it “absolutely necessary to take countermeasures,’’ said Etsuro Honda, an architect of Mr. Abe’s economic policy, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. He called for a new $25 billion in cash handouts and tax cuts.

Japan’s economy unexpectedly shrank in the third quarter, according to government data released there on Monday, extending a painful slump triggered by an increase in the national sales tax and making it more likely that policy makers will put off a second tax hike scheduled to take effect next year, the International New York Times reported. The two-stage tax increase has become an all-consuming political issue in Japan, to the point that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering dissolving Parliament and calling fresh elections, people close to him say.

Economist Paul Krugman thinks that if Japan’s sales tax reaches 10%, it could mean a disastrous return to deflation, The Wall Street Journal Japan Real Time blog reported. In an interview published this week in Shukan Gendai, a weekly Japanese magazine, Mr. Krugman, a Princeton University economist and New York Times columnist, weighed in on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policy as Mr. Abe’s administration closes in on the two-year mark in December. Saying that Mr. Abe has listened to the wrong people, Mr.