Tag - debt

 
 

DEBT

Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 6, 2020
China vows increased measures to 'win' battle against growing bank risks
China pledged to step up measures to shore up its troubled banks and small businesses while continuing a crackdown on shadow banking and property speculation, in a difficult balancing act that risks exacerbating a buildup in bad debt at its traditional lenders.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 27, 2019
Deepening negative rates would do more harm than good, says Bank of Japan ex-deputy
The Bank of Japan has nearly exhausted its policy ammunition for boosting the economy, as deepening negative interest rates — seen as the most likely step if it were to expand stimulus — will do more harm than good, former BOJ Deputy Gov. Toshiro Mutoh has said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 17, 2019
Struggling regional banks in Japan buying riskier debt to survive
Struggling to revive profits as low yields persist, a handful of troubled regional banks are wading deeper into riskier credit such as near-junk rated overseas bonds, according to a Bloomberg survey.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2019
Japan's ruling bloc calls for ¥10 trillion to boost typhoon recovery and slowing growth
Analysts have doubts about the ability to spend such a large amount given the government debt.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2019
South African Airways cancels flights as union ranks ready strike over wages and job cuts
South African Airways (SAA) has canceled flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday because of a pending strike by a majority of employees over a wage dispute and the state-run carrier's plans to cut jobs.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2019
The right way to finance disaster recovery
It's unwise to burden a battered economy with higher taxes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2019
Takeda nears deal on sale of Russia, Mideast and Africa assets to private equity firms
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. is nearing the sale of a portfolio of assets in the Middle East, Africa and Russia to separate buyout firms that could help the drugmaker raise about $1 billion to reduce debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2019
Takeda Pharmaceutical to sell drug assets in emerging markets and Europe, sources say
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. is close to selling some assets in emerging markets and Western Europe, people familiar with the matter said, in a move that would help the Japanese drugmaker reduce its debt pile.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2019
Struggling auto parts maker Akebono Brake to close six plants globally
Embattled auto parts maker Akebono Brake Industry Co. said Wednesday that it will close six plants at home and abroad to rebuild its business.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 2, 2019
The mystery of low inflation despite huge debt
What is the condition that makes it possible for Japan to sustain budget deficits over a long period of time?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2019
China's companies have unseen foreign debt that's maturing fast
The foreign debt built up by Chinese companies is about a third bigger than official data show, adding to the pressure on the country's currency reserves as a wave of repayment obligations approaches in 2020.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 5, 2019
S&P warns it could be bubble time again for Japan's real estate companies as debts rise
Japan's real estate firms are entering dangerous territory. That's the assessment of S&P Global Ratings, which said in a report Friday that the sector's debt levels now eclipse that of the nation's bubble era.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2019
Slovenia faces similar fiscal challenges to Japan, Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj says
Slovenia has similar challenges to Japan in terms of huge government debts and an aging population, and both countries can learn from each other, Slovenian Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj said this week in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2019
Shadow banking crisis raises risk of renewed Indian bad-loan reckoning
Just as India's banks emerge from under a pile of bad loans to large energy, steel and other industrial companies, they are facing a new reckoning from the accelerating crisis in the country's shadow banking sector.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 10, 2019
Dreams of economic revival after Mahathir's return fade in Malaysia
A year ago, Malaysian land surveyor Muhammad Nur Aliff had high hopes that a shock election victory by 93-year-old Mahathir Mohamad could be the catalyst for reform and revival in a country hobbled by sky-high public debt and corruption.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 6, 2019
America's $1.6 trillion student debt woe spurring suicidal thoughts: survey
The $1.6 trillion in U.S. student debt may not pose a direct threat to the economy, but it's causing anguish that goes far beyond financial concerns for the people who owe it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2019
OECD secretary-general urges Japan to pull trigger on tax hike and pursue structural reforms
A top OECD official says the scheduled consumption tax hike to 10 percent this fall is “essential” to ensure Japan's fiscal sustainability.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2019
China's local government debt: The bomb that doesn't explode — but gets kicked down the road
China has embraced the idea of defaults imposing some discipline on debtors in its bond market. And some of the most troubled debtors are local governments' financing vehicles. So an LGFV default has long seemed on the cards. But it just isn't happening.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2019
SoftBank's giant debt burden looks worse than it actually is, analysts say
As SoftBank Group Corp. continues its transformation into a giant investment fund, some analysts are increasingly watching a metric more familiar to lenders as they judge its creditworthiness. And by that gauge, they say, its massive debt pile looks manageable.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2018
Deep in the red: Chinese county pays price for vanity-project binge
In the heart of an impoverished village in southern China, a life-sized statue of Mao Zedong sits on a platform adorned with intricate stonework, flanked by a diorama of Red Army soldiers and traditional brick-and-tile homes with curved roofs.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past