Capital spending by Japanese companies rose 4.5 percent year-on-year in the January-March quarter, reaching the highest level in nine years, the Finance Ministry said Thursday, providing evidence that the economy has been picking up momentum.
Business investment by all non-financial sectors for purposes such as building plants and introducing equipment stood at ¥14.29 trillion ($129 billion), marking the second straight quarterly gain and the highest since the January-March quarter of 2008, shortly before the start of the global financial crisis.
Pretax profits at businesses covered in the poll surged 26.6 percent from a year earlier to ¥20.13 trillion, the highest on record for the January-March period.