Prime Minster Sanae Takaichi blamed companies for focusing too much on shareholders and not enough on raising wages in comments that might unsettle investors who’ve helped drive Tokyo stocks to record highs this year.
"I think there has been a trend of too much focus on shareholders. I will revise the corporate governance code to encourage companies to appropriately distribute resources not just to shareholders but to employees,” she said in response to questions in parliament that raised the issue of how to increase the labor share of income.
While underscoring Takaichi’s push for companies to keep raising wages at a time when inflation continues to eat into household incomes, the comments also appear to signal a deviation from the policies touted by her mentor Shinzo Abe. As prime minister, Abe promoted a new corporate governance code designed to encourage companies to engage more seriously with investors and respect minority shareholders’ rights.
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