The yen’s dramatic decline to multi-decade lows is becoming a hindrance for more than a half of Japan’s small and midsize businesses as they are hit by soaring raw material and energy prices, a recent survey by the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) showed.

According to the survey, of 2,008 small enterprises contacted last month, 54.8% of the respondents said that the weakness of the Japanese currency was a big problem for their operations compared with 47.8% in the previous poll, conducted in November.

Only 2.3% in the latest survey said that the weakening of the yen was a big help.

The yen hit a 38-year low in recent days and broke ¥161 to the dollar, as the Bank of Japan remains cautious about tightening and as verbal warnings fail to restore confidence.

The survey was conducted between June 13 and June 19 when the yen was trading at ¥157.4 to the dollar on average.

Traders and analysts have said that the trend is here to stay for a while until the U.S. Federal Reserve starts to cut rates and the rate gap between the two countries narrows.

Although the yen’s decline has supported profits for a number of large, export-driven Japanese corporations, the survey by the JCCI, a major lobbying body for small and midsize enterprises, highlights that it is inflicting damage on smaller businesses.

“We cannot overlook this situation,” said Ken Kobayashi, chairman of the JCCI, during a news conference on Monday.

“We hope that the government will handle the foreign exchange policy in a way business operators can forecast the exchange rate more easily to some extent,” he said.

Kobayashi has advocated for intervention in the currency market to support the yen.

The JCCI survey highlighted specific negatives, including higher energy and raw material costs. Nearly half of the firms said that they have been unable to pass increased costs on to their customers.

In addition to the rise of purchasing costs, some firms said the weak yen has exacerbated the labor shortage, citing a declining number of non-Japanese job seekers.

Despite the headwinds, about 40% said there are no measures that they can take by themselves.

As for desired exchange rates, 69.5％ want the yen trading between ¥110 and ¥135 to the dollar.