Capital spending in the January-March period fell for the 12th straight quarter, although the pace of decline narrowed, as companies remained cautious amid lingering uncertainty over the future outlook, the government said Thursday.
Capital expenditure for all industries excluding the financial and insurance sectors dropped 11.5 percent to ¥11.14 trillion, slower than the 17.3 percent drop in the previous period, according to a report by the Finance Ministry.
The government believes companies are "still in a severe climate," although a pickup in sales and profits indicates the overall sentiment has continued to recover from the long-standing recession, a ministry official said.