The Tokyo stock market remains in a slump, with its key indicator threatening to fall below 13,000, as uncertainties linger over the future and selling pressures intensify with the unwinding of cross-shareholdings toward the end of the fiscal year.
There will be no quick fix to the situation, and all we can do is make full-scale efforts to structurally reform the economy. Of particular importance is a policy initiative to change the nation's financial system from one heavily dependent on indirect financing to one more focused on direct financing.
On Feb. 9, the ruling coalition compiled a set of draft measures to stimulate the stock market, featuring steps that can be immediately taken to prepare for the shift toward direct financing.