Major Japanese firms plan to reduce spending on plant and equipment by 0.6 percent to 22.08 trillion yen in fiscal 2002, the governmental Development Bank of Japan said Tuesday.

The cutback would mark the second consecutive annual decline in domestic capital outlays, the DBJ said in a biannual report.

The DBJ's semiannual poll is one of the most extensive surveys of corporate capital investment. The bank surveyed 3,021 companies with capital of 1 billion yen or more to compile the report.