15th Nov 2009 : Asahi Newspaper
[ Reuters \ Singapore \ 14th Nov ]
Leaders of APEC (the Asia-Pacific Economic Committee), at a meeting held in Singapore, have made it clear that the target for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to be made public in a declaration on 15th Nov will be expressed by the English word [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Economy’
November 16, 2009
APEC Leaders propose ambiguous Target for Greenhouse Gas Emissions
June 22, 2009
Nationwide pessimism re:local economy
[ Asahi Shinbun, 22nd June '09 ]
A nationwide survey of the opinions of business owners/managers re: the local economic situation in the regions has revealed that over 70% believe local business conditions are getting worse. This is a considerably worse result than for a similar survey conducted at the same time with 100 top companies. [...]
June 9, 2009
‘Salaryman’s’ pocket money… Public Survey
The Asahi Shinbun reports today that, according to consumer finance body Shinsei Financial’s “2009 Salaryman Pocket Money Survey”, company workers have on average a quarter of the ready cash they enjoyed during the bubble period. Male company workers’ pocket money has decreased by 700 yen since last year to 45, 600 yen. This represents a [...]
May 25, 2008
J-Power Shareholders’ Meeting
The UK investment fund TCI (The Children’s Investment Fund) held a meeting in Tokyo for J-Power shareholders to seek support for TCI proposals with regard to dividend payments and other matters. TCI is now the largest shareholder in major Japanese electricity producer J-Power and are seeking to gain support from other investors before the general [...]
April 5, 2008
METI to warn British investment fund
METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and the Finance Ministry of Japan will make an official decision by 11th April to ‘advise’ a British investment fund to modify or desist from its investment plans as announced in its application to increase its stock holdings in Japanese electricity-producing giant J-Power as “There is a risk [...]
March 25, 2008
Overwhelming Support for Life-time Employment
An independent survey by the Labour Policy Research and Training Council has revealed that nearly 90% of people in Japan still support the idea of life-time employment.
March 24, 2008
Chinese and Japanese Finance Ministers Meet
On 23rd March, Japanese Finance Minister Nukaga exchanged opinions with his Chinese counterpart Hsiei at a meeting in Tokyo organized by the Sino-Japanese Finance Authority’s Executive board.
March 24, 2008
Corporate Pessimism
According to a survey into Corporate optimism, the results of which were released by the Finance Ministry and Cabinet Office today, the business outlook index (the rate for ‘pessimistic’ subtracted from the rate for ‘optimistic’) for the first 3 months of 2008 stands at -9.3%.
March 21, 2008
DPJ Backs Shirakawa for BoJ Governor
DPJ Policy Chairman for the next Diet, Ken Yamaoka, commented in the Diet on 21st March that Masaaki Shirakawa, who was in attendance to mark his inauguration as Acting Governor, had the full support of the DPJ. The DPJ’s rejection of PM Fukuda’s choice of Toshiro Mutou for BoJ Governor has meant that the [...]
March 14, 2008
Dollar falls below ¥100 for first time in 12 years, etc
The dollar fell to ¥99.77 as the ‘Strong Yen, Weak Dollar’ phenomenon continued, breaking the ¥100 line for the first time since November 1995, reports the Asahi Shinbun today.
March 13, 2008
Current Account further into Black
According to the spot report on GDP released by the Japanese Finance Ministry on 12th March, the current account balance has gone 8.1% further into the black compared to January 2007, rising to ¥1,235,800,000,000.
March 12, 2008
GDP figures revised for last quarter of 2007
According to revised figures released by the Cabinet office today, nominal (ie., excluding the effect of price fluctuations) GDP (seasonally adjusted) in the last quarter of 2007 (excluding the effect of price fluctuations) rose by 0.86% on the previous quarter; (equivalent to an increase over the year of 3.5%), reports the Asahi Shinbun.
March 12, 2008
Opposition Parties Oppose LDP Choice for BoJ Governor
The Asahi Shinbun reports today that the DPJ has formally decided to oppose the LDP candidate for next Governor of the Bank of Japan, Toshiro Mutou (currently BoJ Deputy Governor).
March 7, 2008
Yen Strengthens in Tokyo
The yen strengthened to ¥120.75~80 by 1pm in trading today on the Tokyo Currency Exchange. This after a marked movement to sell dollars and buy yen, which started in New York yesterday and was picked up over here this morning. This is the strongest the yen has been relative to the dollar in the last [...]
March 7, 2008
Gasoline Tax, Road Maintenance Plan : call for Compromise
Secretary General Ibuki of the ruling LDP has announced that ’substantial compromises need to be made’ if agreement is to be achieved in the Diet over the extension of the Provisional Gasoline Tax and the next 10-year Road Maintenance Plan.
March 7, 2008
Airport Maintenance Law – Restrictions on Foreign Investment to be Lifted
Proposed revisions to the Airport Maintenance Law were decided by the Fukuda Cabinet on 7th March, reports the Asahi Shinbun today.
March 7, 2008
Fukuda to Japan Business Federation : “Pass the Fruits of Reform to the People”
PM Fukuda invited Fujio Mitarai (御手洗富士夫) (President of the Japan Business Federation 経団連) to his official residence to seek his cooperation in responding to demands for pay raises for company employees. (Asahi Shinbun, 7th March ‘08)
March 7, 2008
New Governor of Bank of Japan – Fukuda selects Candidate
With Toshihiko Fukui (福井俊彦) due to step down as Governor of the Bank of Japan on 19th March, and with barely enough time for the Diet to discuss and approve a new candidate, PM Fukuda has announced that he will be consulting with the DPJ leader Ozawa for approval of
February 27, 2008
Why is the Yen weak?
Hideo Tamura, Special Economic Affairs journalist with Sankei Newspapers, writes (Sekai, March edition) about the state of the yen.
February 26, 2008
Changing Tides – What 2007 Statistics Reveal
Jirou Terajima gives an interesting overview of socio-economic statistics for 2007, with a mind to what can be expected in 2008 (Sekai, March edition).
February 26, 2008
National Debt
The Asahi Shinbun reports in its morning edition today on Japan’s national debt. The Finance Ministry reported on 25th February that in the last quarter of last year the country’s national debt rose, after remaining steady over the previous two quarters, to a record high of ¥838,005,000,000,000 (８３８兆５０億円). If this debt were divided equally amongst [...]
February 26, 2008
Japan & Middle East Sovereign Wealth Funds
Yoshiki Hatanaka, a senior consultant with Japan’s International Development Centre specializing in Middle Eastern economics, international oil, etc., writes in Sekai about Sovereign Wealth Funds. After providing an explanation of what SWFs are, an overview of the effect of the sub-prime crisis on them, and a brief analysis of Russian and Chinese SWFs, the [...]
February 25, 2008
Which Socio-Economic System? Opinion Poll Results
Jiro Yamaguchi, Hokkaido University Graduate School Professor, and Taro Miyamoto, (the same) report in Sekai this month on an Opinion Poll they conducted in an attempt to ascertain what kind of socio-economic system people in Japan really want.
