Some 45 per cent of Japan’s households now include one person aged 65 years or more, government figures show, underlining how swiftly the country is moving towards a costly demographic inflection point, the Financial Times reported. The quickening advance towards a crossover point that will change the country’s economic landscape and the companies serving it, comes with a shrinking dependency ratio. By 2060, there will be 1.3 Japanese of working age (15-64) for every person over 65, according to a government white paper on ageing.

$2,411,412,137,427. That figure — $2.4 trillion for those with an untrained eye for very large numbers — is in the same ballpark as the annual economic output of France. It is also exactly the amount that people around the world claim they lost when Mt. Gox, the Tokyo-based virtual currency exchange, collapsed into bankruptcy in 2014, after huge, unexplained losses of the volatile digital currency Bitcoin, the International New York Times reported. As with most of the people who lost money with Bernard L.

Increasing prices are a big deal in Japan. The country’s sluggish economy means that the cost of most things has not risen in 20 years, and almost any increase makes headlines, the International New York Times reported. Consumer prices are a painful economic headache for Japan. The country’s officials have been trying to break this stubborn pattern of deflation by pumping money into the economy and bolstering public spending.

Officials and market participants agree that the Bank of Japan ought to do more to beat deflation, but they are divided over whether the central bank’s policy-setting board members have to do so this week, The Wall Street Journal reported. Economic data offer plenty of reasons for easing at the central bank’s two-day meeting, which concludes Thursday. The economy is at risk of shrinking in the second quarter because of earthquakes that shook southern Japan recently.

Japan’s prime minister insists he will raise consumption tax to 10 per cent next year and has hinted that another economic stimulus package is being planned, the Financial Times reported. Shinzo Abe said before leaving for Washington he would press ahead with the tax rise unless there was a natural disaster or economic blow as big as the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. But Mr Abe also began to prepare for another fiscal stimulus, already under discussion within his party, and warned of downside risks to the global economy.

Skymark Airlines Inc. exited bankruptcy administration and forecast its first operating profit in three years after reducing its fleet, cutting routes and securing new funding, The Japan Times reported on a Bloomberg News story. The carrier expects to report ¥1.5 billion ($13 million) in operating profit and sales of ¥70 billion for the year ending March 31, Skymark said in a statement Monday. Skymark also said it’s targeting an “early relisting” of its shares after filing for bankruptcy protection last year. Private equity firm Integral Corp.

Japan’s prime minister insists he will raise consumption tax to 10 per cent next year and has hinted that another economic stimulus package is being planned, the Financial Times reported. Shinzo Abe said before leaving for Washington he would press ahead with the tax rise unless there was a natural disaster or economic blow as big as the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. But Mr Abe also began to prepare for another fiscal stimulus, already under discussion within his party, and warned of downside risks to the global economy.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Foxconn Technology Group’s flagship company, on Sunday denied media reports that the bailout of Sharp Corp. will be approved and signed on March 31, a day after Hon Hai’s board meets, Bloomberg News reported. Progress in talks to acquire troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp will determine whether the deal is discussed at the board meeting, which will go ahead as scheduled, Hon Hai said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange.

Japanese companies have markedly slowed the pace of wage growth in one of the worst blows to hit the Abenomics stimulus since it was launched in 2012. As results of the annual “spring offensive” on wages poured in from across the manufacturing sector, many companies offered pay rises half the size of last year, and far below the pace needed to drive inflation to 2 per cent, the Financial Times reported. The results are a double blow to Shinzo Abe, prime minister, and the Bank of Japan.

The Bank of Japan said on Tuesday it would maintain its massive asset buying programme at existing levels but offered a bleaker view of the economy, suggesting it may roll out more stimulus as it struggles to reach an elusive inflation target, the International New York Times reported. However, the central bank appeared to back-pedal on its recent radical shift to negative interest rates, highlighting the dilemma the BOJ faces as it struggles to respond to renewed signs of economic weakness with dwindling policy options.