Japanese Companies Hold Record Cash as Abe Urges More Investment
This article is for subscribers only.
A day before the Bank of Japan’s final policy decision of 2015, data show the nation’s companies are hoarding more cash than ever even as Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has repeatedly said wage growth is needed for sustainable inflation.
Cash and deposits held by companies rose 6.1 percent from a year earlier to a record 247 trillion yen ($2 trillion) at the end of September, the BOJ’s quarterly flow of funds report showed Thursday. Households held 53 percent of their 1,684 trillion yen assets in cash, little changed from 55 percent in December 2012 when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office.