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.
Business Topics
Economy Sep 13, 2013
Big business may get tax cut with stimulus
The administration is considering a reduction in corporate income taxes as part of a stimulus package to cushion the economy from the first of two planned increases in the consumption tax, according to three sources briefed on the matter. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ...
Economy Sep 13, 2013
Basic economic assessment raised
The economy’s performance in September was revised upward Friday for the first time in two months as the government saw companies beefing up investment on expectations for the stimulus-driven recovery to accelerate. The world’s third-biggest economy “is on the way to recovery at a ...
Economy Sep 12, 2013
Abe to raise sales tax to 8% as scheduled
Prime Minister Abe has decided to proceed with the first stage of the consumption tax hike next April and throw in more stimulus to offset its impact.
Economy Sep 12, 2013
July core machinery orders down 0.025%
Core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 0.025 percent in July from the previous month, signalling that some companies are still reluctant to increase investment. The orders, which exclude those for ships and from utilities due to their volatility, fell to ¥777.2 billion ...
Economy Sep 12, 2013
Business 'champs' issue warning on looming 'Abenomics' hangover
by Sayuri Daimon
Experts and business leaders who gathered Thursday at an international meeting in Dalian urged the government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to be on guard against negative factors that could hurt Japan’s economy. In a session on Japan at the Annual Meeting of ...
Economy Sep 11, 2013
Optimism high among large firms
Kyodo Sentiment at major companies in the July-September quarter soared to a record high as the weakened yen fueled exports and drove stock prices higher, a government survey said Wednesday. The “corporate economy projection” index covering firms capitalized at ¥1 billion or more hit ...
Economy Sep 11, 2013
Minimum wage to rise to ¥764 per hour on average
A revision to the tax system in October will add ¥15 to the average minimum wage, which will climb to ¥764 an hour, the labor ministry says. It is the largest year-on-year rise since ¥17 in fiscal 2010. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged ...
Economy Sep 11, 2013
August wholesale prices rise 2.4%
Wholesale prices logged a 2.4 percent year-on-year gain in August, backed by higher prices for electricity and crude oil caused by the government’s weakening of the yen to stoke inflation, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday. The index of corporate goods prices stood at ...
Economy Sep 11, 2013
Tourists once again return to Portugal
The famous No. 28 tram, winding its way through the narrow streets of Lisbon, is packed. Foreign tourists are flocking to Lisbon, as well as the southern coastal Algarve region — and that’s just the shot in the arm that the crisis-hit country needs. ...
Economy | 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL Sep 10, 2013
Abe hoping to prove to the world that Japan truly is back
by Jun Hongo
Tokyo’s victory for the right to host the 2020 Olympic Games is a reassurance to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent go-to catchphrase, “Japan is Back,” with the slogan having appeared as the subtitle of the government’s growth strategy and even as the title in ...
Economy Sep 10, 2013
Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports may get more flights
The transport ministry says it will consider expanding slots at the two main airports in the Tokyo metropolitan area to cover the expected growth in flight demand following the successful bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. The ministry plans to increase the number ...
Economy Sep 10, 2013
Fiscal credibility critical: BOJ board
Many Bank of Japan policymakers stressed the importance of maintaining fiscal management credibility to ensure stable interest rates and called on the government to promote fiscal consolidation, according to the minutes of their policy meeting last month. During the meeting Aug. 7 and 8, ...