Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
27
P/SUNNY
The Bank of Japan’s decision Monday for a dollar-swap accord with the U.S. Federal Reserve was welcomed by analysts, who said pumping liquidity into the banking system and helping businesses raise necessary funds are crucial to keeping Japan’s economic recovery on track. The BOJ ...
Japan and the European Union have had difficulty launching a joint study on a free-trade deal, with analysts pointing out that Japan’s market appears less promising than other Asian economies. However, the two sides are still thought to have many common interests in promoting ...
Japan goes into semiannual regulatory reform talks with the European Union this week, with some participants expecting to make headway on bilateral free trade. But others believe hurdles remain, saying the form of economic partnership the 27-member European economic bloc wants, based on wide-ranging ...
Finland, recently named the world’s “most prosperous” country, no longer sees economic growth as a reason to feel happy as the global crisis has changed how people value their lives, Finland foreign minister said in a recent interview in Tokyo. Alexander Stubb, in Japan ...
speak with a consultant about how to deal with the swine flu pandemic at its headquarters in Tokyo on Oct. 7. KYODO PHOTO The proposal, widely touted after Hatoyama took office in September, was generally welcomed when he showed up for the annual summit ...
The free-trade agreement that recently took effect between Japan and Switzerland is expected to help Tokyo ease any unfavorable impact from the lengthy time it has spent trying to conclude a similar accord with the European Union, Swiss Vice President Doris Leuthard said. Japan ...
The recent buzz over hybrids and electric cars has overshadowed the massive investments global auto giants are making in fuel-cell vehicles — another near-reality dream car that some believe promises an ultimate zero-emissions society. Japan plans to stay on the cutting edge of the ...
With Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama having set a more ambitious emissions reduction target than that pledged by former rival Taro Aso, nuclear power is emerging as one of the most effective potential solutions. In the only country to have been hit by atomic bombs, ...
The media have lashed out at the Democratic Party of Japan over its apparent backpedaling on wanting a free-trade agreement between Japan and the United States. But experts say that regardless of the party’s aspirations, an FTA between the world’s two biggest economies will ...
Saturday’s restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture is likely to revive public concerns about safety but relieve political concerns harbored by the government and the power industry. Tokyo Electric Power Co. restarted the No. 7 reactor at2 p.m. by pulling ...
The Bank of Japan’s move Tuesday to support corporate finance may stem from its concern that extremely low interest rates are not stimulating the economy amid the financial crisis. Lower borrowing costs are usually believed to improve liquidity in the financial system and boost ...
When the subprime crisis ran riot and U.S. and European central banks launched a series of coordinated assaults earlier this year, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa stood aside and merely released statements hailing his peers’ efforts. Thursday, however, the BOJ announced it would ...