The nation's biggest business lobby is urging large companies to pass on the benefits of a weaker yen to their suppliers as the Abe administration seeks to relieve pressure on small firms.
"We are calling for their cooperation and spreading the word across the country," Takeshi Hamada, a spokesman at Keidanren, said Thursday in Tokyo. "We have to wait to see how big companies will react. I think our actions will have some effect."
Hamada's comments come after deputy economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura reinforced the government's determination to help suppliers that have been hurt by higher costs of imported raw materials.