Business leaders said they will do their part to ensure that Japan emerges from years of deflation as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe steps up calls for companies to raise wages and bolster capital expenditure.
The leaders of the three major business lobbies said Tuesday they believe the economy will recover moderately in 2016, although concerns about China's economic slowdown and rising tensions in the Middle East have led to a recent sell-off of global stocks.
"We need to do our utmost and pave the way (for Japan) to declare an end to deflation," said Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Keidanren organization.